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THE 
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

A TEXT IN GOVERNMENT 

FOR USE IN 

HIGH SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES 
AND NORMAL SCHOOLS 

BY 

S. E. FORMAN 

Author of "Advanced American History," "A History 
or THE United States," ''First Lessons 
IN American History," etc. 



The beat laws, though sanctioned by every citizen of the State, 
will be of no avail unless the young are trained by habit and 
education in the spirit of the Constitution — Abistotle 



*^^^^V^^5Mt 




NEW YORK 

THE CENTUHY CO. 

1920 




N ........v, 



v/ \ V 



Copyright, 1920, by 
The Century Co. 



AUG 13 iy20 



©CLA576036 



PREFACE 

This text is based on my Advanced Civics, but the changes 
that have been made are so many and so far-reaching that 
it has been thought best to give the new book a new name. 

The essential principles of our government are presented 
first. The student begins by learning of big things, of 
democracy, representative government, the separation of 
powers, constitutions, the federal system, local self-govern- 
ment, civil liberty. These are the foundation stones of the 
Republic, and to present these great themes first is simply 
to lay the foundation aright. 

In Part II is an account of the political superstructure, 
the governmental machine. Here the aim has been to give 
important subjects a broad and ample treatment, but there 
has been no effort to present a vast array of facts. You 
will not be able to carry young people very far along on the 
road to good citizenship by gorging their minds with facts 
about government. The way to improve citizenship is to 
establish in the mind correct political ideals and to reach 
the heart with the living truths of political morality. 

Part III deals with the every day work of the govern- 
ment. The learner is brought face to face in a practical 
way with questions relating to international policies, na- 
tional defense, taxation, currency, transportation, trusts, 
immigration, conservation, labor legislation, public utilities, 
the housing problem, rural betterment. These are subjects 
with which the voter must be conversant, and if they do 
not receive serious attention in the classroom our civics 
teaching wiU break down at a most important point : it will 
fail to prepare for intelligent voting. 

We have in this country a precious heritage of liberty and 



vi PREFACE 

democracy and it is the prayer of every good American that 
this heritage be preserved. It will not be preserved unless 
our youth are led to understand it and taught to love it. 
So, throughout the book, the underlying purpose has been 
to teach the true meaning of America, to impart the Ameri- 
can spirit. ''The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life." 

S. E, FORMAN. 

Washington, D. C, 1920. 



CONTENTS 



PART I 

THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: 

THE SPIRIT 

I 

DEMOCRACY 

PAGE 

Government 3 

Types of Government 4 

The United States a Democracy 4 

Why Democracy is the Best Form of Government .... 5 

Dangers of Popular Government 6 

Democracy and the Individual 7 

II 

THE MASTERS OF GOVERNMENT 

The Elective Franchise 10 

Qualifications of a Voter 11 

The Right of Suffrage Conferred by State Authority .... 12 

Equal Suffrage 13 

Duties of the American Voter 14 

III 

IeIEPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 

Pure and Representative Democracy 17 

Growth of Representative Government . 18 

The United States a Representative Democracy 18 

Principles of Representation 19 

Representation of the Minority 20 

The People and their Representatives 21 

vii 



viii CONTENTS 

IV 

''CHECKS AND BALANCES" 

PAGE 

How the Power of Government is Separated 24 

Development of the Three-Department System 24 

The Legislature 25 

The Judiciary 27 

The Executive 27 

Independence of the Departments 28 

V 

CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 

Colonial Charters 31 

Constitutions 31 

How Constitutions Obtain Their Authority 33 

Outline of a Typical Constitution . 33 

Amendments and Revision of Constitutions ...... 34 

VI 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

Different Kinds of Political LTnions 38 

Complexity of the American Government .39 

Beginnings of the American Union 39 

Articles of Confederation 40 

Weakness of the Confederation 41 

Efforts to Strengthen the Confederation 42 

VII 

THE WORK OF THE FATHERS 

The Constitution Framed and Ratified 46 

Distribution of Powers 47 

Implied and Resulting Powers of the Federal Government . . 50 

Limitations of the Federal Government 51 

How the Federal Constitution is Amended 51 

VIII 

THE STATE 

Powers of the State 54 

Conflict of Federal and State Authority 55 

Interstate Relations • . 56 

Preservation of the Federal System 59 



CONTENTS ix 

IX 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

PAGE 

Division of the Powers of the State 62 

Three Grades of Government 63 

How Local Governments Eeceive Their Powers 64 

Municipal Home Rule 66 



•■ X 

PARTY GOVERNMENT 

What Political Parties Are For .......... 69 

Origin of Political Parties in the United States 70 

Political Parties of To-day 71 

Political Parties and the Individual 73 



XI 

CIVIL LIBERTY 

Civil Liberty Defined 76 

Growth of American Civil Liberty , . 76 

Constitutional Liberty and Its Preservation 82 



XII 

CIVIL RIGHTS AND DUTIES 

Civil Rights and Political Rights 85 

Who are Citizens? 85 

Civil Rights of State Citizenship 86 

Civil Rights of Federal Citizenship 88 

Duties of Citizenship 89 



XIII 

A REVIEW 

The Characteristic Features of American Government ... 91 
The American Spirit 92 



X CONTENTS 

PAET II 

OEGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 

THE FORM 

XIV 
THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS 

PAGE 

Introductory 97 

Representation in Congress 98 

Apportionment of Representatives 101 

Election of Representatives 102 

Election of Senators 102 

Powers of Congress 103 

Congress the Hope of the Nation 104 

XV 

CONGRESS AT WORK 

Assembling of Congress and Its Adjournment 108 

How Congresses are Numbered; Sessions of Congress . . . 108 

The House at Work 110 

The Senate at Work 115 

XVI 

THE PRESIDENCY 

Election of the President 118 

Powers and Duties of the President 120 

The President's Share in Law-Making . . . . . . . . 120 

Succession to the Presidency 122 

The President as a Political Personality 123 

XVII 

THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 

The Executive Civil Service 125 

The Cabinet 126 

Organization of the Departments 128 

XVIII 

THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 

Explanation of Terms 133 

Independence of the Federal Judiciary 133 



CONTENTS xi 

PAGE 

Organization of the Federal Courts 134 

The Supreme Court and the Constitution 136 

The Supreme Court and the People 139 

Federal Courts Outside the Federal System 140 

Oificers of the Federal Courts 140 

XIX 

TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES 

How Territories and Dependencies are Governed ..... 143 

Territories and Dependencies on the American Continent . . 144 

Insular Territories and Dependencies 148 

Attitude of the United States Toward Its Dependencies . . . 151 

XX 

THE STATE LEGISLATURE 

General Features of State Legislatures 153 

Passage of Bills 153 

Importance of State Legislation 155 

The State Legislature and the State Constitution .... 156 

Direct Legislation; Initiative and Referendum 157 

XXI 

THE STATE EXECUTIVE 

Decentralization of Executive Power in the State .... . 162 

Chief State Executive Officers 163 

Other Executive and Administrative Officers 166 

Consolidation of State Administrative Offices 168 

Removal of State Officers 168 

XXII 
THE STATE JUDICIARY 

Selection of the State Judiciary ., . I73 

The Several Grades of State Courts '. ! ! 173 

Probate, County, and Chancery Courts ! . ! 177 

Relation of the State Judiciary to the Federal Judiciary . . 177 

Powers of the State Judiciary 178 

XXIII 

THE COUNTY 

Importance of County Government 181 

The Three Types of County Government 181 



:gii CONTENTS 

PAGE 



The Governing Body of the County 
Court Officials of a County . 
Other County Officials .... 

County Home Rule 

The Citizen and His County . 



183 
184 
185 
186 
186 



XXIV 

THE TOWNSHIP 

The Two Types of the County-Township System 189 

Powers of the Township 192 

Organization of the Township 193 

The Township a School for Good Citizenship ...... 193 



XXV 

THE TOWT^ 

Origin and Character of the Early New England Town . . . 196 

The Town-Meeting 198 

Town Officers 199 

The Town as a Factor in the Civic Life of New England . . 200 

Town Government Outside of New England 201 



XXVI 

MUNICIPALITIES 

Necessity for Municipal Organization 203 

Two Classes of Municipalities 204 

Villages, Boroughs, Towns 204 

Organization of Cities 206 

Honesty and Vigilance the Price of Good City Government . . 214 



XXVII 

PARTY ORGANIZATION 

Nomination of Candidates 217 

Permanent Party Organization 217 

Primaries 218 

Direct Nominations 220 

The Convention System . . . . • 221 

Presidential Campaign 221 



CONTENTS ^iii 

PART III 

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE AMEEICAN GOVEENMENT 

ITS SERVICES 

XXVIII 
THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT 

PAGE 

Scope of Governmental Activity 227 

Government and the Individual .......... 228 

Individualists; Socialists ........ i. ;.. . 230 

XXIX 

LAWS 

What a Law Is; Different Kinds of Law 233 

Some of the Characteristic Features of Law 234 

Law-Making and Public Opinion ,. . . 235 

Obedience to Law 237 

XXX 

JUSTICE 

ildministration of Justice the Highest Function of Government 240 

Fimdamentals of American Justice 240 

A Needed Reform in the Administration of Justice .... 244 
"Fiat Justitia" , .246 

XXXI 

DEFENSE 

Defense an Indispensable Fmiction of Government . . . . 248 

National Defense 248 

State Defense ■ .252 

Local Defense 252 

Civil Government and Martial Law 253 

XXXIi 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONE 

International Affairs Regulated by the Federal Government . 265 

International Law 255 

Ambassadors and Ministers 257 



xiv CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Consuls 258 

The President the Head of Foreign Affairs 259 

Treaties 259 

Arbitration 261 

The Peace Treaties* 262 

The League of Nations 262 



XXXIII 

TAXATION 

Cost of Government 266 

Taxation Defined _ 266 

Principles upon Which Taxes are Levied 267 

Different Kinds of Taxes 267 

Reforms in Taxation 269 

XXXIV 

NATIONAL FINANCE 

Extent of the Federal Taxing Power 273 

Preparing the National Tax Bill 274 

Sources of the National Revenue 275 

Collection of the National Revenue 277 

National Expenditures 277 

Shall We Have a National Budget ? 278 

XXXV 

STATE FINANCE 

Taxing Power of the State 282 

Authority for State and Local Expenditures 282 

Taxation in the State 284 

State and City Budgets 288 

XXXVI 

PUBLIC DEBT 

Public Debt a Necessity 291 

How a Government Borrows Money 291 

National Debt 292 

State Debt 293 

Debts of Local Governments 294 

How Public Debts are Paid 296 



CONTENTS XV 

XXXVII 
MONEY 

PAGE 

Money as a Commodity 299 

The Precious Metals 300 

Coinage of Money 301 

Paper Money 301 

Representative Money * 303 

Rivalry of Gold and Silver; Gresham's Law 303 



XXXVIII 

THE CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES 

Different Kinds of Currency 307 

Gold Coin and Gold Certificates; Silver Dollars and Silver Cer- 
tificates 307 

Subsidiary Coinage 308 

United States Notes (Greenbacks) 308 

National Bank Notes 310 

Federal Reserve Notes. Federal Reserve Bank Notes . . .311 

Essential Facts of Our Monetary System 313 



XXXIX 

FOREIGN COMMERCE 

Power of Congress Over Foreign Commerce 315 

The Tariff; Free Trade and Protection 316 

Tariff Legislation 317 

The Tariff Commission 318 

Regulations of Foreign Shipping 318 

Foreign Commerce Assisted by the Federal Government . . . 319 



XL 

THE STRANGER WITHIN OUR GATES 

Extent and Character of the Immigrant Population . . ..321 

Restrictions Upon Immigration 322 

Benefits of Immigration 324 

Naturalization 325 

Americanization ' 326 



xvi CONTENTS 

XLI 

TRANSPORTATION 

PAGE 

Interstate and Intrastate Commerce 329 

Highways . 330 

Railroads 333 

The Interstate Commerce Commission 334 

Transportation Act of 1920 . • .335 



XLII 

CORPORATIONS 

The Corporation in Modern Life • . . . 339 

How Corporations are Created and Controlled 339 

Growth of the Trusts 340 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Trusts 342 

The Federal Government and the Trusts 343 

State Governments and the Trusts 345 

The Trust Problem 346 



XLIII 

CONSERVATION 

Meaning of Conservation 348 

Scope of Conservation 348 

Conservation of the Soil 349 

Conservation Through Reclamation 350 

Forest Conservation 352 

Conservation of \A'ater Power 353 

Some of the Practical Benefits of Conservation 355 



XLIV 

ELECTIONS 

Usefulness of Frequent Elections 358 

Elections Conducted by State Authority 359 

Registration 359 

The Casting and Counting of the Ballots 359 

Protecting the Ballot-Box from Corrupt Practices .... 360 

Bribery 362 



CONTENTS xvii 

XLV 
EDUCATION 

PAGE 

Democracy and the Public School System 365 

Public Education Controlled by the State 365 

Education a Local Affair 366 

The School District 367 

School Supervision 367 

Common Schools, High Schools, Universities, and Normal 

Schools . 368 

Educational Activities of the Federal Government .... 368 

Educational Reform 370 

XLVI 

LABOR 

Growth of Labor Organizations . . . . . . . . . . 373 

Aims of Labor Organizations 375 

The State and the Workingman 375 

Collective Bargaining 376 

Settlement of Labor Disputes 377 

A Difficult Labor Problem . . . 378 

The Federal Government and the Workingman 380 

XLVII 

THE LAWS AND THE WORKINGMAN 

The Police Power 383 

The Laborer is Worthy of his Hire 384 

"Eight Hours for Work; Eight Hours for Rest; Eight Hours 

for What You Will" 385 

Unemployment 386 

Insurance Against Accidents 387 

Child-Labor Laws 389 



XLVIII 

HEALTH, SAFETY, AND MORALITY 

A Word More About the Police Power 392 

Public Health 393 

The Federal Government and the Public Health 393 

Public Safety 394 

Public Morality 395 

Prohibition 395 



xviii CONTENTS 

XLIX 
HELPING THE POOR 

PAGE 

The Poor We Have Always Witli Us 398 

Care of the Poor a Function of Local Government .... 398 

Outdoor and Indoor Relief 399 

The Defective Classes 400 

State Boards of Charities 400 

Mothers' Pensions; Old Age Pensions 401 

Organized Charity 402 

L 
CRIME 

Definition of Crime ' . . 405 

Punishment of Crime 406 

Crime and the State Government 406 

Crime and the Fedei-al Government 408 

Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Criminals 409 

LI 

URBAN AMERICA 

Growth of Cities and Extension of Municipal Functions . . . 413 

The Problem of Public Utilities 414 

The Housing Problem 417 

City Planning 419 

Municipal Recreation 420 

Community or Civic Center . . . . . 421 

LII 

RURAL AMERICA 

Decline of the Rural Population 424 

Conditions of Rural Life 425 

The Federal Government and the Farmer 420 

The State Government and the Farmer 429 

The Local Government and the Farmer 430 

Farmers' Associations 432 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

The power of government Frontispiece 

PA&B 

The growth of democracy in America 11 

America's greatest representative body 20 

The growth of the Constitution 43 

The distribution of powers .49 

The act which admitted the first new state 57 

T'ac-simile of part of the Declaration of Independence . . .81 

Map of Pennsylvania showing Congressional Districts .... 99 

A chart showing at a glance the relative strength of each state 

in the national House of Representatives Ill 

Organization of state administration 169 

Map of a county, showing townships and villages 191 

Council plan of Chicago 205 

Commission plan of Des Moines 209 

City manager plan of Dayton 213 

A sample ballot for direct nomination of officers 219 

Portion of a treaty between France and United States showing 

seals and signatures 260 

The Committee on Ways and Means . 274 

Chart showing division of currency 309 

Where the foreigners come from . 323 

Map showing the state highway system of California .... 332 

Principal irrigation projects in the Western United States . . 351 

A sample ballot for a general election 360 

In the ]\IcKinley Manual Training School, Washington, D. C. . 390 

The New York Public Library . -415 

Trade communities 432 



PART I 

ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF THE 
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 



The Spirit 



THF 
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 



PART I 

I 

DEMOCRACY 

The study of Civics is in the main a study of government, an in- 
quiry into the workings of a political machine. The most important 
question that can be asked about a government relates to its power : 
From what source does government in America receive its compelling 
force? The answer to this question involves the discussion of the 
greatest and noblest of all political themes — democracy. 

Government, If man could live separate from all of his 
kind his freedom would be perfect ; his conduct would de- 
pend entirely upon his own will and desires. But he can 
not live thus. He must live in society, and in the social 
relation he must do things that he does not wish to do, and 
he must refrain from doing things that he wishes to do. 
Wild, unrestrained freedom would destroy the peace and 
safety of the social group. In every society, therefore, 
there are rules (laws) to be, obeyed and rulers to enforce 
the rules. Thp ^^y^^thgyity t.hat^im.pia.g!ps rnlps upon the con- 

^^SLsi.SiSS.^Bi^l^^^'^-'lSSJ'ii^^^ who disobey is government. 
The word government is derived from a Latin word 
{guhernare) which means to guide or steer or pilot a ship. 
The idea of piloting or guiding clings to the word govern- 
ment in all its uses. We may say, with exactness of lan- 
guage, that government pilots society safely through the sea 
of man's passions and cruelty and selfishness. The mani- 
fold services of government will receive attention in another 

3 



4 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

place (p. 227). Here it is enough to say that government 
lays its hands upon us in our infancy and is a guiding and 
controlling force all our lives. If it is wise and just and 
efficient, it is an instrument of happiness ; if it is foolish 
or tyrannical or incapable, it is an agency of misery. Our 
interestj therefore, in securing and maintaining a good 
government is direct and permanent. 

Types of Government. What kind of government shall a 
people have? What powers shall it exercise? Who shall 
be the rulers, and by what authority shall they rule? 
Questions like these arose ages and ages ago at the earliest 
period of human association. After experimenting for 
many thousands of years, trying now this form of govern- 
ment, now that, here oppressed by cruel masters, there 
breathing the air of freedom, the people of the earth at last 
found themselves living under absolute monarchies, limited 
monarchies, or republics. In an absolute monarchy they 
were governed by one person, the monarch, whose will was 
unfettered and supreme. In the limited monarchy the 
monarch shared political power with a law-making body 
chosen by the people. In the republic all political power 
flowed, directly or indirectly, from the people themselves. 
These three types of government, evolved from the long 
and ample experience of the past, are the prevailing types 
of the present day. 

The United States a Democracy. In America the people 
have chosen the republic as their form of government, or, 
rather, they have chosen to establish a democracy; for be- 
tween a republic and a democracy there is no essential 
difference. And what is a democracy? It is a popular 
government ; a government that receives its powers directly 
from the people; '^a government of the people, for the peo- 
ple, and by the people." 

In the United States the hand of the people is seen in 
every department of public affairs. The President of the 
United States, the Congress, and the national Supreme 



DEMOCRACY 5 

Court all receive their powers from the Constitution of the 
United States, and this Constitution is a creation of the 
people (1)^ of the United States; the government of a 
State ^ receives its powers from the people of the State ; a 
city or a town or a county is governed by the people who 
reside within its borders. Thus in the United States the 
will of the people prevails not only in the country taken 
as a whole, but in all its parts as well. This is the funda- 
mental principle of the American government. 

The people govern by a political device known as majority 
rule. When a question of government is to be decided, or 
when an officer of the government is to be chosen, an orderly 
vote is taken, and the will of the majority is regarded as 
the will of all. The majority rules, and the minority sub- 
mits to the will of the majority. This is a necessary and 
unavoidable feature of democratic government. The mi- 
nority, right or wrong, must bow to the will of the majority. 
If the cause of the minority, however, is just, it may be 
promoted, and in good time the minority may become a 
majority. A righteous and aggressive minority will not 
suffer permanent defeat. 

Why Democracy Is the Best Form of Government. What 

are the reasons that urged the people to undertake the 
dangerous and difficult task of governing themselves? 
There are three coercive reasons why popular government 
should be maintained: 

(1) The people are the best guardians of their own 
liberties and interests. Government lyy is government for. 
Government by a king will be conducted in the interest of 
the royal family ; government by an aristocracy will be ad- 
ministered for the benefit of a small class; government by 
all will aim to promote the welfare and protect the rights 
of all. 

1 The numbers in heavy-faced type refer to passages in the Constitution of 
the United States (Appendix A), which are distinguished by corresponding 
numbers on the margin. 

2 In this treatise, when the word state begins with a capital letter one of 
the members of the American Union is meant. 



6. THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

(2) Democracy is best for the individual. Participation 
in government adds to the interest of life, sharpens the in- 
tellect, broadens the sympathies, cultivates a civic con- 
science, and thus enriches and elevates individual character. 

(3) Popular government develops the highest type of 
patriotism. Citizens of a democracy always spring quickly 
to the defense of their government, for it is a work of their 
own hands. Subjects of monarchies, on the other hand, 
have been known to be driven into battle by the lash. Pop- 
ular government has had its fullest development, perhaps, 
in Switzerland, and the Swiss are the most patriotic people 
in the world. 

Dangers of Popular Government. We are sometimes 
taught to regard democracy as something divine. We are 
told that the voice of the people is the voice of God. We 
should cherish the principle of democracy and resist every 
attempt to undermine it or sap its strength, but we need 
not regard it as a divine institution. It is simply one of 
the forms of government. It is that form in _which---the 
people rule by the device of voting and abiding by the will 
of the majority ; that is all. Democracy is a human insti- 
tution, and like all human institutions it is beset by dangers. 
Three of these dangers are inherent and must be pointed 
out: 

(1) Indifference. It is extremely easy to forget and 
neglect civic duty. It is next to impossible to keep the 
attention fixed constantly upon public affairs. Yet the suc- 
cess of popular government requires that the citizen's in- 
terest in public affairs be sustained, and that his watchful- 
ness shall never be relaxed. Eternal vigilance is the price 
of democracy as well as of many other good things. A 
people who are habitually indifferent to the affairs of gov- 
ernment are not fit to rule themselves. 

(2) The Demagogue. A demagogue is a leader who 
seeks to gain political power for his own selfish purposes, 
and not for his country's good. The demagogue flatter;; 



DEMOCRACY 7 

the people and confirms them in their prejudices and 
wrong thinking and, if necessary, lies to them. He would 
rather lead the people to their destruction than fail in his 
designs. We must always have leaders, and as long as there 
are men who prefer their private gain to the public welfare, 
so long will the false leader, the demagogue, be with us. 
We ought, therefore, to keep a sharp lookout for this arch- 
enemy of democracy and deal him a blow whenever he 
shows his baleful head. 

(3) Tyranny. We are accustomed to associate the idea 
of tyranny with kings; but what is tyranny? It is an 
exercise of power without regard to justice; it is an exer- 
cise of brute force. Now, if the majority ruthlessly 
trample upon the rights oi the minority, the minority feels 
the tyranny as keenly as if it were inflicted by a despot. 
Tyranny in popular government is worse than the tyranny 
of monarchies. A tyrannical king can be overthrown, but 
when a majority is tyrannical its tyranny cannot be suc- 
cessfully resisted. 

The danger of tyranny in popular government will be 
avoided if the majority will remember justice and right. 
But justice and right are not always identical with the 
popular will. ^'To say that the will of the majority makes 
a thing right or wrong is a palpable absurdity. Right and 
wrong are what they are by their own nature. They can 
as little be made by man as can the properties of the tri- 
angle. No man, no number of men, can do more than de- 
clare them. The will of the majority ought to prevail if it 
is in accordance with right. For the sole ought is an 
ethical ought." (W. 8, Lilly.) 

Democracy and the Individual. We learn in physics that 
a body acted upon by a number of forces applied from dif- 
ferent directions yields something to each force and moves 
in a line that is the resultant of all the forces. So it is 
in the political world. In a democracy a number of wills 
exert themselves upon government to make it go this way 



8 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

and that ; it yields something to each and moves in a direc- 
tion that is the resultant of all the wills. Plainly, then, the 
responsibility for the course of public affairs must be 
sought in the doings of individuals. Just as one's personal 
conduct affects the government of the home for good or for 
evil, or the government of the school for good or for evil, so 
does personal conduct affect the larger civil government for 
good or for evil. This is another way of saying that good 
government begins with one's self, not with one's neighbor. 
"When I grasp the idea of personal responsibility in political 
matters, when I understand that the greatest contribution 
I can make to the cause of good government is to order my 
own political actions aright, I am beginning to understand 
the duty that rests upon me as a citizen of a democracy. 
The first fact of a democracy is the power of the people ; the 
first fact of citizenship in a democracy is the civic responsi- 
bility of the individual. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is government, and why has it been established? 

2. Name three prevailing types of government, and define each. 

3. What is a democracy? Why may we call the United States a 
democracy ? 

4. What is meant by majority rule? 

5. Give three good reasons why popular government should be 
maintained. 

6. Point out three of the great dangers of democracy. 

7. How can it be shown that responsibility for good government 
rests upon the individual? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Can society exist without government? 

2. Which is better, self-government or good government? 

3. "The people have the right to their own mistakes." Discuss 
this statement. 

4. Why should Civics be taught in the public schools? 

5. Which is worse, anarchy or despotism? 

6. What is an aristocracy? an oligarchy? a plutocracy? an 
ochlocracy ? 

7. What notable gains have been made by democracy in recent 
years ? 

8. Suppose this school was organized as a democracy: would the 
will of the majority be expressed in favor of order and industry? 



DEMOCRACY 9 

Would any demagogues be likely to make their appearance? Would 
the minority acquience in the will of the majority? 

'J. What is meant by the expression "making the world safe for 

democracy"? What is meant by the expression "making democracy 
safe for the world"? 

10. Classify tlie sovereign governments of the earth as absolute 
monarchies, limited monarchies, and republics. In which class do 
we find the greatest number of peo})le? In which class is the highest 
grade of civilization? 

11. Among the services that government performs for society are 
the following: (1) It keeps the streets and roads in repair; (2) it 
supports the schools; (3) it administers justice between man and 
man; (4) it carries the mails; (5) it protects life and property; 
(6) it preserves the liberty of citizens; (7) it regulates the posses- 
sion and transfer and descent of property; (8) it defends the nation 
against attack; (i)) it protects the public health; (10) it helps the 
poor and unfortunate. Arrange these services in the order of their 
importance, placing the most important service first. Be prepared 
to give reasons for your arrangement. 

12. In former times it was said that the voice of the King was the 
voice of Cod; in these times it is sometimes said that the voice of 
the people is the voice of God. In which statement is there more 
truth? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Perils of Democracy: Abbott,i 279-301. 

2. Majority Rule: Dole, 161-173. 

3. The Meaning of Self-Government: Kaye, 15-21. 

4. Ideals of Democracy: Cleveland and Schafer, 25-47. 

5. The Underlying Concepts of Democracy: Cleveland and Schafer, 

48-68. 

1 For the full name of the authors and fhe full title o"! the book see the 
Readinc List (Appendix B), where the names of the authors are arranged in. 
alphabetical order. 



II 

THE MASTERS OF GOVERNMENT 

When it is said that in a democracy the people are the rulers, it 
should of course be understood that only a portion of the people 
is meant. For plainly there are large classes of persons — little chil- 
dren, for example, and defectives — who could take no part in public 
affairs Avithout doing great harm. Democracy, therefore, means not 
the rule of all the people, but the rule of the political people. Who 
are these political people? Who are the masters of government in 
the United States? 

The Elective Franchise. Since it is impossible for every- 
body to participate in the management of public affairs, it 
has been found necessary to grant the suffrage — that is, the 
elective franchise, or the privilege of voting — to some 
classes of persons and to withhold it from other classes. 
The portion of the population to whom the elective fran- 
chise is given is known as the electorate. Inasmuch as 
democracy has always been a powerful and persistent force 
in America, the electorate has from the beginning of our 
history consisted of a considerable portion of the popula- 
tion. Even before the Revolution, large numbers of people 
in every colony participated in government, and when in- 
dependence was declared it was proclaimed in the name of 
the people. The political people, however, at the time of 
the Revolution did not constitute a very large portion of 
the adult population. But democracy in the nineteenth 
century made wonderful strides and the electorate assumed 
larger and larger proportions. By 1840 it included all 
white male adults, and by 1870 it included black male adults 
as well. Democracy continued to gain strength, with the 
result that by 1920 the American electorate, now including 
women as well as men, had become a stupendous governing 
body consisting of more than 25,000,000 persons. 

10 



THE MASTERS OF GOVERNMENT 



11 




1790 



184(^ 




187© 



192® 



THE GROWTH OF DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA 

(If the entire circle is taken as representing the whole population of voting 
age, male and female, foreign and native, the shaded segment represents the 
portion of such population entitled to vote.) 



Qualifications of a Voter. Who are admitted to the elec^ 
torate and who are excluded from it? To whom is the 
suffrage granted ? The right to vote is a franchise or privi- 
lege granted to such citizens as are deemed worthy of pos- 
sessing it. In colonial times the underlying idea was that 



12 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

it was not a man's education, or his nationality, or his age, 
or his character that entitled him to vote, but his property, 
and in most of the colonies the property haqL to be land. 
After the Revolution, however, the property qualification 
was gradually removed. At the present time the qualifica- 
tions for voting relate chiefly to age, residence, citizenship, 
education, mental or moral condition, and sex. 

In all the States the age qualification for voting is twenty- 
one years ; in all the States a previous residence within the 
State varying from six months to two years is required ; in 
all the States a voter must be a citizen of the United States, 
or he must have declared his intention of becoming a citi- 
zen; in nearly one third of the States a person who can 
not read or write is denied the privilege of voting ; in nearly 
all of the States certain classes of abnormal persons, such 
as lunatics, idiots, and criminals, are excluded from the 
privilege of voting; in nearly half the States women may 
not vote at all elections. 

The Right of Suffrage Conferred by State Authority. 

Authority ^jgranting the suffrage and defining the quali- 
fications^^Bters resides chiefly in the State. The only 
restrk^n \Mpn the power of the State to regulate the 
ele(ffve franniise is found in the fifteenth amendment to 
the Constituftn, where it is declared that the right of citi- 
zens of the Twiited States to vote shall not be abridged by 
any State on account of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude (159). As long as the State does not violate 
this, amendment, it is free to regulate the suffrage in its 
own way. It may. even grant the elective franchise to 
aliens. If the State should violate the fifteenth amendment 
it is difficult to say what would be done. It would seem 
that the State's representation in Congress would be de- 
creased; for when the right to vote at any election for 
President or Vice-President, or for Representatives in 
Congress, is denied to any of the male adult citizens of a 



THE MASTERS OF GOVERNMENT J^ 

State other than criminals, the basis of the State's repre- 
sentation in Congress may be reduced in the proportion 
that the number of disfranchised citizens bears to the whole 
number of male adults in the State (154). According to 
this rule, if a State with twelve Representatives in Congress 
should disfranchise one third of the male adult citizens, 
it would lose four of these Representatives. Its basis of 
representation, however, would not be reduced without 
action on the part of Congress (158). 

Equal Suffrage. The most significant political reform of 
recent times has consisted in extending the suffrage to 
women on equal terms with men. In the later years of the 
nineteenth century the movement on behalf of equal suf- 
frage resulted in securing the votes for women in Wyoming, 
Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. Women were now going out 
into the industrial world, working and struggling as men 
worked and struggled. The conditions that forced them 
into the industrial world had a tendency to force them into 
the political world. Accordingly, in the opening years of 
the twentieth century they entered upon ^campaign de- 
manding political rights with an insistendl iiever before 
shown. Their efforts were rewarded with* victory after 
victory. Before the second decade of the century had 
come to an end the elective franchise had bfen granted to 
women in half the States, and the cause of lequal suffrage 
had been so far advanced that it seemed only a question of 
months when a constitutional amendment would be adopted 
giving women the right to vote throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. 

Wherever women have the right to vote it is their duty 
to vote. A woman may not believe in equal suffrage; she 
may regret that the franchise has been given to her sex : 
but this makes no difference; her belief and her feelings 
will not suffice to absolve her. Equal suffrage has come to 
stay, and with it has come a new duty for women. Democ- 



14 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

racy is a cause that is fought for chiefly with ballots, and 
if women are to do their part in upholding the cause they 
must be present at the polls on election day. 

The evidence shows that women may be relied upon to 
do their part. Where equal suffrage has been established 
it has justified itself. "I do not know," says a Senator 
from an equal suffrage State, ''one man who regards 
suffrage as anything else than good. We feel that the 
votes of our women is valuable to us in many ways, and I 
believe that fully ninety per cent, of them vote. Their in- 
fluence has compelled both parties to put up good men as 
candidates." Where women have the suffrage their efforts 
in political matters are directed largely toward the affairs 
of the home and the school and toward the accomplishment 
of social and industrial reforms, the very field of reform in 
which so much is to be done and in which the influence of 
womeii is most needed. ■ 

Duties of the American Voter. The American voter has 
been called an "uncrowned king." He is certainly an 
officer of government, for he is a member of the electorate, 
or the governing body, which consists of all the voters, and 
which possesses supreme political power, controlling all the 
governments, federal and State and local. When, there- 
fore, the voter enters the polling-booth and presumes to 
participate in the business of government, he assumes seri- 
ous responsibilities. What are the duties of a voter in a 
self-governing country? If an intelligent man will ask 
himself this question and refer it to his conscience, as well 
as deliberate upon it in his mind, he will conclude that he 
ought at least to do the following things : 

(1) To vote whenever it is his privilege. 

(2) To try to understand the questions upon which he 
votes. 

(3) To learn something about the character and fitness 
of the men for whom he votes. 

(4) To vote only for honest men or honest women. 



THE MASTERS OF GOVERNMENT 15 

(5) To support only honest measures. 

(6) To give no bribe, direct or indirect; and to receive 
no bribe, direct or indirect. 

(7) To place country above party. 

(8) To recognize the result of the election as the will of 
the people and therefore as the law. i > 

Questions on the Text ^l'' ^j H / 

1. From whom is the elective franchise withheld? Give an ac- 
count of the growth of the American electorate. 

2. State the qualifications usually required for voting. 

3. By what authority is the suffrage granted? What restrictions 
are placed on the State in the matter of granting the sufTrage? 

4. Give a brief account of the movement for equal suffrage. Why 
should women vote? To what extent are women attending to their 
political duties? 

5. Enumerate the duties of a voter. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

nj)Get a copy of the constitution of your State and examine it 
for answers to the following questions: (1) What is the qualifica- 
tion of voters as to age? as to residence — (a) in the State? (&) in 
the county? (c) in the election district? as to sex? as to education? 
as to the payment of any tax? as to citizenship? Can an alien vote 
in this State? (2) What special immunities have voters on election 
day? (3) Are absentees allowed to vote? (4) What persons are 
disaualified for voting? 

^^ Are the qualifications and disqualifications thus mentioned in 
the State constitution all just and proper? If not, state what 
changes you would like to have made. 

^3^ After careful thought state the arguments for and against an 
educational qualification for voters; for and against compulsory 
voting. 

^^ Give the meaning of the following words : elector, resident, in" 
hahitcint, denizen, alien, citizen, subject. 

^S^jln Massachusetts voting may by an act of the legislature be 
macR^ compulsory. Would you vote for or against a bill that com- 
peUM citizens to vote? 

Cj^ Of the duties of the voter mentioned in the last section of this 
chapter which is the easiest to fulfil? which the hardest? which is 
the^ost important? 

(Tj It has been proposed that before a person is allowed to vote he 
should be required to pass an examination in the subjects of History 
and^ivics. Would this be a wise regulation? 

O/When you become of age do you intend to vote? What per- 
sonal advantage may you reap from voting? State the losses that 



16 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

society would sustain if you should be deprived of your vote. Are 
you now qualified to cast an intelligent vote? 

9. Discuss the subject of equal suffrage from the standpoint (a) 
of justice; (&) of women's fitness for voting; (c) of the effect upon 
politics; {d) of the effect upon social conditions. 

Topics foe Special Work 

1. The Extension of Democracy: Dole, 87-102. 

2. Political Rights: Abbott, 62-103. 

3. The Education of Voters: Kaye, 118-126. 

4. Women and the Suffrage: Jones, 232-236. 

5. The Responsibility of the Voter: Kaye, 126-128. 



Ill 

REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 

The electorate of a nation, or of a State^ or even of a good-sized 
city, is of course vastly too large to assemble at one place and make 
known its will. How, then, can the voting population have a voice 
in the making of a law, or take part in the management of public 
affairs? The answer to this question leads to the consideration of 
the highly important subject of representative government. 

Pure and Representative Democracy. When the business 
of government is transacted by the direct action of the 
entire electorate we have a perfect or pure democracy. In 
ancient Greece, where the states were very small, pure 
democracy was often practicable. For example, when 
Attica wished to take action upon an important question, 
all her citizens — her carpenters, weavers, shoemakers, mer- 
chants, lawyers, poets, generals, philosophers — assembled in 
the agora, or market-place, discussed the question, and 
voted upon it. The citizens of Attica numbered hardly 
more than ten thousand. They could therefore conven- 
iently govern themselves as a pure democracy. But the 
will of a nation consisting of millions of people can not 
be ascertained in this way, for the reason that the whole 
body of citizens can not meet together at one place. Ac- 
cordingly, there has been evolved a representative democ- 
racy with a representative government. 

A representative government is a popular government in 
which power is exercised by chosen agents (representatives) 
of the people, instead of being exercised directly by the 
people themselves assembled as a single body. A country 
that is governed by representatives elected by the people is 
a representative democracy or republic. In a representative 
democracy the people rule no less than in a pure democ- 
racy, but they rule indirectly. 

17 



18 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Growth of Representative Government. The first lessons 
in representative government were taught by England. 
When the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain (449 a. d.) they 
settled in villages. Soon they united the villages into 
larger political associations, known as hundreds. This 
union was effected in the following way: In each village 
four discreet men were chosen to attend the hundred moot, 
or meeting-place of the hundred, where they met other dis- 
creet men from the other villages of the hundred. The 
four men sent to the hundred moot spoke and voted for 
the village whence they came. ^' Their voice was its voice, 
their doings its doings, their pledge its pledge." At the 
hundred moot were done only those things that the village 
could not do for itself. Strife between village and village 
was allayed; appeals were heard; judgment in the weigh- 
tier cases of law was rendered. All matters that were 
purely local were still in the hands of the little home 
government, the village moot. The central authority did 
not destroy local self-government. 

The union of villages under the government of the hun- 
dred pointed the way to the formation of larger unions. 
The villages also sent their representatives to a shire moot, 
where public business was transacted in the name of the. 
shire, the parent of the modern county. The organization 
of the shire moot was the model for a national moot, and 
in 1265 the nation, through its representatives, met in a 
council at Westminster, two representatives from each shire 
attending. Thirtj^ years later, in addition to the two rep- 
resentatives of the shire, two citizens from each city and 
two burgesses from each borough were elected to the na- 
tional council. This council, consisting of representatives 
of the whole body of the English people, was the first 
English Parliament. 

The United States a Representative Democracy. In 

America the representative feature in government has been 
in operation from the very beginning. In 1619 Virginia 



REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 19 

had the honor of electing the first representative body that 
ever met in the New World. In New England the local 
governments were conducted as pure democracies, but in 
matters of general concern the people acted through their 
representatives. Throughout the colonial period to govern 
through representatives seemed to Americans the only 
natural way of conducting public affairs. Independence 
was declared by representatives of the colonies, and the 
Constitution was framed by representatives of the States 
(130). Thus our nation began its existence as a represen- 
tative democracy. Generally speaking, government in the 
United States is representative in all its grades and in all 
its branches. Our legislatures, our President, our govern- 
ors, our mayors, and in most instances our judges, are 
chosen agents of the people. 

Principles of Representation. What principles shall gov- 
ern in the choice of representatives? Shall a representa- 
tive act for a class, for an interest, for a locality, or for all 
the people who elect him? How shall representatives be 
apportioned? For how long a time shall a representative 
retain his power ? These questions have given rise to many 
political battles, and have led to many political experiments. 
In the English Parliament for a long time manufacturing 
interests were represented by members from the boroughs 
and cities, farming interests were represented by members 
from the shires, church interests by the bishops, educational 
interests by members from the universities, the noble classes 
by the lords. In other words. Parliament represented only 
classes and interests. With the rise of democracy in the 
nineteenth century the system of government by classes and 
interests broke down in England and elsewhere, and an 
officer of government began to be regarded as a representa- 
tive of all the people. 

For the law-making branch of government the principle 
of representation according to number was adopted: so 
many people, so many representatives. In order that the 



20 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

people might have an opportunity of choosing new agents 
and instituting new policies of government, the term of the 
representative was limited to a fixed period of time. An- 
other rule that was quite generally observed was this: the 
voters chose as a representative one who resided within the 
district in which the vote was taken. These principles of 
representation are applied to a greater or less extent in all 
countries that enjoy free government. In the United 
States they are applied with great fidelity in all the grades 
of government, in township and county and city and State 
and nation. The principles are five in number, and may 
be stated as follows : 

1. A representative is chosen from a certain district — a 
ward, a county, a Congressional district, a State — and he 
usually must be a resident of the district that he represents. 

2. In the choice of representatives the principle of ma- 
jority rule prevails; but if there are more than two can- 
didates for an office, the candidate having a plurality of 
votes is usually declared elected. 

3. A representative acts not for this or that class, or for 
this or that interest, but for the people as people. 

4. Representatives in the law-making bodies are ap- 
portioned according to population : so many people, so many 
representatives. 

5. A representative is chosen for a fixed definite period 
of time, usually a short period. 

Eepresentation of the Minority. Very often the existing 
methods of choosing representatives works injustice to 
minorities. For example, at a Congressional election held 
in Indiana several years ago, when the Democrats cast a 
total vote of 291,000 (round numbers), the Republicans 
166,000, the Progressives 127,000, the Socialists 38,000, and 
the Prohibitionists 17,000, it happened that the Democrats, 
having a plurality in every district, elected every one of its 
thirteen Representatives which the State sent to Congress. 
The other parties, therefore, had no representation what- 



REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 21 

ever, although their combined vote was much larger than 
the Democratic vote. To secure a representation of the 
minority many devices have been proposed and not a few 
tried. The plan that seems to have found most favor is 
the Hare system of proportional representation. This 
system aims to give to each political party or group a rep- 
resentation proportional to the number of votes cast by the 
party or group, regardless of whether that number is a 
majority or a minority. It is claimed for the Hare system 
that, if adopted, it would reproduce in Congress, in State 
legislatures, or in city councils the opinions and interests 
of voters in due proportion ; that it would assure to all ele- 
ments in the community an able and trusted leadership; 
and that it would insure the rule of the majority and at the 
same time give any considerable minority party a fair hear- 
ing. 

The People and their Representatives. In a representative 
democracy, government on election day passes out of the 
hands of the people for a time into the hands of their chosen 
agents. It is plain that these agents should be well fitted 
for their tasks: that they should be incorruptible servants 
of the public ; that they should be statesmen, not dema- 
gogues; that they should place the interests of their coun- 
try and of their constituents above their own personal in- 
terests. It is equally plain that the success of democracy 
depends upon the attention which the people give to the 
election of their representatives and to the wisdom they 
show in making selections. If voters cast their ballots for 
the unfit and the dishonest, if they fail to vote down the 
political crook, if they allow the demagogue to deceive them 
and throw dust into their eyes, if they fail to make known 
their wishes and to demand that their representatives act 
in accordance with their wishes, then sooner or later repre- 
sentative government will surely break down. And the 
collapse will be due not to the faults of the representatives, 
but to the people themselves. For in a democracy the 



22 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

character of the government depends upon the voters who 
control it. 

We scold at our representatives, but this is a vain and 
foolish thing to do, for our representatives are one with 
ourselves. When we become better they will become better. 
We can not shift responsibility from ourselves to our rep- 
resentatives. Representation is a political device of great 
convenience, but it can not work political magic. It can 
not remove the burden of responsibility from the shoulders 
of the individual. When we assume the task of self-govern- 
ment we assume personal duties that no political contriv- 
ance will enable us to escape. 



Questions on the Text 



U)! 



1. Contrast pure with representative democracy. *'"'*"^ 

2. Give an account of the growth of representative government in 
England. 

•'"' 3. Give an account of the growth of representative government in 
the United States. 

4. State five principles which, in the United States, are recognized 
in matters of representation. 

5. Show that majority rule sometimes works injustice to the mi- 
nority. What are the aims of proportional representation? 

6. What are the duties of the people in regard to the matter of 
representation? Show that constituents and representatives are 
usually alike. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Explain this sentence: "The United States is a representative 
democratic republic." 

2. Distinguish between a "delegate" and a "representative." 

3. What qualities are developed in the citizen of a pure democ- 
racy? Which is better for the individual, a direct or indirect de- 
mocracy ? 

4. In some places local affairs — especially school affairs — are 
managed by the people meeting together and acting as a pure de- 
mocracy. State the advantages and disadvantages of this custom. 

5. In England voters sometimes choose as a representative one 
who does not reside among themselves. Give reasons for and against 
such a custom. Do you think that residence among his constituents 
is an absolutely necessary qualification for a representative? 

6. Arrange the following forms of government according to their 
merit, placing the best first, and give reasons for your arrangement: 
oligarchy, absolute monarchy, representative democracy, aristocracy, 
anarchy, pure democracy, limited monarcSjC^ 



REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT 28 

7. Answer the following questions with reference to the relations 
that should exist between a representative and his constituents: 
Under what circumstances will a representative be justified in op- 
posing the wishes of the people who elected him? If the wishes of 
the voters change after election, should the representative act ac- 
cording to the changed views of his constituents? Should the repre- 
sentative under all circumstances act according to his own judgment? 
Should he abide by the promises made before his election? Should 
he resign if his v^iews do not accord with the views of his constitu- 
ents? When a representative is instructed by his constituents as to 
a course of action, should he obey the instructions? 

8. Among the cities that have adopted the plan of proportional 
representation are: Ashtabula and Coshocton, in Ohio, and Boulder, 
in Colorado. If you are interested in proportional representation, 
address a letter to the mayor of one of these cities, requesting him to 
send you an account of the practical working of proportional repre- 
sentation. 

9. What European countries have adopted proportional repre- 
sentation ? 

10. In one of our cities the teachers are demanding the right to 
choose one of their number to represent them on the school board, 
the one chosen to act, not in the name of the people at large, but 
in the interests of teachers as teachers. What do you think of a 
system of representation that is based on the interests of classes 
rather than on the interests of a whole body of constituents? If 
such a system were adopted in your city what five or six leading 
classed of interests would demand representation ? 

11. In some of the States the rule, "so many people, so many rep- 
resentatives," is not strictly adhered to. Is it strictly adhered to in 
this State? Has any attempt been made in this State to give repre- 
sentation to the minority? 

12. Plurality ; Second Election. If in a contest for office A receives 
5,000 votes, B 4,000, and C 3,000, there is no majority, yet in most 
States A is declared elected because he receives a plurality. Should 
the will of the plurality rule? 

In some countries, when there is a contest in which three or more 
candidates take part with the result that no person receives a ma- 
jority of the votes, a second election is held, the candidates being the 
two persons who received the greatest number of votes at the first 
election. State the arguments for and against the second-election 
plan. 

Topics for Special Work 

/I. The New Democracy: Johnson, 355-362. 
^'2. Representative Government: Dole, 174-183; Gettell, 316-317. 

3. Distinction between Democracies and Republics: Johnson, 55-56. 

4. The Nature of Representation: Johnson, 56-58. 

5. Minority Representation: Gettell, 322-325. 

6. False Leaders: Abbott, 301-312. 



IV 

^'CHECKS AND BALANCES'^ 

For the successful operation of our political machinery we have 
adopted a nicely contrived series of devices for regulating, balancing, 
and checking power. In this chapter we shall study the workings of 
this system of "checks and balances." 

How the Power of Government is Separated. When the 
voters transfer their power to representatives, they do not 
bestow upon one person or upon one body of persons all the 
power they have to give. To lodge supreme authority in 
one person might result in erecting a despotism over the 
heads of the people. Hence Americans have taken great 
precautions to defend themselves from abuses that might 
arise from the consolidation of power. In setting up their 
political machinery they have made use of a remarkable 
series of devices for regulating, balancing, and checking 
power. They have divided governmental power into three 
portions and have established three departments, of govern- 
ment, to each of which the^^ have allotted certain peculiar 
powers. These departments are: (1) the legislative de- 
partment, upon which is conferred the power of making 
laws; (2) the executive department, which is vested with 
the power of carrying laws into effect; and (3)- the judicial 
department, which is intrusted with the power of deciding 
how the law shall apply in particular cases when disputes 
arise. 

Development of the Three-Department System. The 

American system of separating power and causing it to 
flow in three channels is an outgrowth of English experi- 

24 



'^CHECKS AND BALANCES" 25 

ence. In the early history of England the folk moot exer- 
cised legislative, judicial, and executive powers; but along 
with the development of representative government there 
was developed a system of distributing the powers to three 
great departments. Parliament confined itself chiefly to 
making laws, a class learned in the law acted as judges, and 
the king carried the law into effect. The lines that divided 
the three departments were not always clear, and one de- 
partment frequently encroached upon another. In the 
seventeenth century a king (James I) ventured to sit on 
the bench as a judge, but his conduct was universally con- 
demned. The protest that arose against the encroachment 
of James shows that Englishmen by this time had learned 
to draw the lines that should separate the departments, and 
in the struggle that followed it was settled that these lines 
should not be blurred or effaced. In 1765 the most cele- 
brated expounder of English law (Blackstone) could say 
that in England the three departments of government were 
separate and distinct. 

The American colonists conducted public affairs after 
the English fashion, making use of the three-department 
plan, and when the founders of the Republic arranged for 
a new political system they based it upon the principle of 
the separation of power, keeping the lines of cleavage dis- 
tinct and clear. They took great care that judges should 
do only the work of judges, that legislatures should only 
make laws, and that executives should be concerned only 
with the carrying out of laws; and they placed around 
each department effective barriers against encroachment by 
the other departments. And the policy of the Fathers has 
been continued to the present time. In the governments 
of the States, as well as in the government of the nation, 
three departments are always in operation, each doing a 
work that is pecjiliarly its own. 

The Legislature. The most powerful and iii some respects 
the most important department is the legislature. In the 



26 THE AMEEICAN DEMOCRACY 

United States it is a general rule that the legislative depart- 
ment shall consist of representatives elected by the people 
for short terms. The legislature rarely sits in continuous 
session, but adjourns and disperses as soon as the necessary 
laws have been passed. Every subject relating to the 
safety, welfare, and progress of society may come within 
the scope of legislative action. 

One of the most important powers of the legislature is 
to provide money, by means of taxes, for the support of 
government. The American Revolution hinged chiefly 
upon the subject of taxation, and the outcome of that 
struggle confirmed the principle that in America there can 
be no taxation without either the personal consent of the 
people or the consent of their representatives in the legis- 
lature. The fact that government must receive its revenue 
through the consent of the legislature gives to that branch 
large powers of control over the operations of the other two 
branches, for without money no department can effectively 
exercise its powers. 

At the present time the legislature of the nation (Con- 
gress) and the legislatures of the States consist of two 
branches, an upper and a lower house. The upper house 
— nearly always called the Senate — usually consists of 
members who are older than members of the lower house, 
and who are elected for longer terms. The lower house is, 
on an average, about three times as large as the upper 
house. A measure must pass both houses before it becomes 
a law. 

Why is it necessary to have two separate bodies of men to 
pass a law? Experience, which has taught us so much 
about government, seems to decide in favor of two houses. 
Legislatures of a single house have been tried, and it has 
been found that they do not always act with sufficient delib- 
eration. An anecdote related of Washington teaches very 
well the advantage of having two houses: Jefferson once, 
while dining with Washington, attacked the bicameral sys- 
tem as being clumsy and mischievous. Washington de- 



"CHECKS AND BALANCES" 27 

fended the American plan. ''You j^ourself," lie said, 
"have proved the excellence of two houses this very mo- 
ment." "I?" said Jefferson. "How is that, General?" 
"You have," replied Washington, "turned your hot tea 
from the cup into the saucer to get it cool. It is the same 
thing we desire of the two houses." "When a law must 
pass in two branches there is an opportunity for that sober 
second thought which is so valuable in every sphere of 
action. 

The Judiciary. Violations of law will occur; disputes* 
will arise between men as to their rights under the law ; 
questions as to the meaning and scope of a law will be 
raised. The power of trying offenders, and of settling 
controversies between contending parties, and of inter- 
preting the meaning of the law is lodged with the judicial 
branch. The work of the judge is confined to the cases 
that are brought before him. If no cases are brought, 
then he has nothing to do. The judges are usually 
chosen by the people, although they are sometimes ap- 
pointed, either by the executive or by the legislature. His- 
torically they are really representatives of the people, for 
they pronounce the justice that was originally dispensed 
by a popular assemblj^ It has become the practice of all 
nations to select for the judiciary men who are skilled in 
the law, and who by temperament and character are com- 
petent to render just and lawful decisions. 

The Executive. The enforcement of the laws made by the 
legislature, and the decisions made by the judiciary, and 
the preservation of peace and order are the functions of 
the executive branch. In this department reposes the 
physical force of the state. The executive has at its com- 
mand armies and navies, and will use them if necessary. 
In republics the chief executive officers are elected by the 
people. Executive power in modern times is usually 
vested in one person — a president, a governor, a mayor, 
a prince, a king, an emperor. The executive frequently 



28 THE AjVlERICAN DEMOCRACY 

has the power of vetoing an act of the legislature, but the 
veto usually can be overcome by a two-thirds vote. The 
veto power is plainly a legislative power. 

Independence of the Departments. Under our system each 
of the departments is quite absolute in its sphere, and quite 
independent of the other two departments. If one depart- 
ment seems to another department to be going wrong, the 
latter will refuse to cooperate with the former, and thus 
obstruct its action. Thus if the legislature passes an act 
which, in the distribution of powers, the judiciary thinks 
it has no right to pass, the judiciary may hold the act to be 
null and void as soon as a dispute arising under the act is 
brought before it. If the judiciary presumes to exercise 
powers that do not properly belong to it, the legislature 
may by appropriate laws check the usurpation. If the 
executive goes strongly counter to the wishes of the legis- 
lature, the latter may refuse to vote the money that is 
necessary to conduct executive business and thus stop the 
wheels of government. Thus by a system of nicely balanced 
powers and effective checks the independence of each de- 
partment is secured. 

The maintenance of this system of "checks and 
balances" is a perpetual task of citizenship. If the peo- 
ple are not vigilant, one department will encroach upon 
another and gather to itself power that does not rightly 
belong to it. "The spirit of encroachment," said Wash- 
ington, "tends to consolidate the powers of all the depart- 
ments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of 
government, a real despotism." As long as human nature 
remains what it is, this "spirit of encroachment" will be 
present; it grows out of man's inborn love of power. 
Grant to a man a certain amount of power, and immediately 
he craves a larger amount. This disposition of one de- 
partment to encroach upon another can never be smothered, 
but it can be effectually resisted. When one branch en- 
croaches upon another and usurps its power, it does so 



^'CHECKS AND BALANCES" 29 

simply by the natural operation of a superior force, and 
there is only one power that can check the usurpation — the 
people themselves: the voters can restore the balance by 
refusing to elect usurpers. 

Although this independence of the departments is a 
cherished feature of American government, the sj^stem 
nevertheless has some drawbacks and disadvantages. 
Sometimes one department by asserting its independence 
obstructs the workings of the entire political machine, with 
the result that the government is robbed of its strength and 
efficiency. So far is this true that many students of 
political science have come to believe that we shall sooner 
or later be compelled to abandon the old plan of separating 
power and substitute a sj^stem under which power is more 
fully centralized and consolidated. This view has already 
found expression in those cities organized under the com- 
mission system (p. 208), where executive and legislative 
powers are blended in one body.. Moreover, in several 
States serious attempts have been made to lodge the execu- 
tive and legislative power of the State in a single body, and 
thus to establish in the State a form of government re- 
sembling the commission system. 

- Questions on the Text 

1. Name the three departments of government, and state the func- 
tion of each. 
1^2. Give an account of the growth of the three-department system 
in England. 

V*^3. To what extent has governmental power been separated in the 
United States? 

4. What are the powers of the legislature? 

5. Into what two branches is the legislative department divided? 
Why has it been thought wise to adopt the bicameral system? 

6. What powers are vested in the judiciary? 

7. What are the powers of the executive department? What are 
the titles of some of the chief executive officers? 

8. Explain how one department may maintain its independence 
with respect to the other two. 

9. Wliy is one department likely to attempt encroachment upon 
another? Can such encroachment be prevented? 

10. What are some of the drawbacks and disadvantages of the 



30 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

three-department system? What reform in connection with the sys- 
tem has been proposed? 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

1. If power must consolidate, in which branch do you prefer that 
it gather? Give reasons. 

2. Name some of the great law-givers of history; some of the 
great executive geniuses. 

3. Contrast the qualities that are desirable in a law-maker with 
those that are desirable in an executive officer. 

4. Make out a list containing the names of every public official 
whom you are personally acquainted with, and tell with what depart- 
ment each person is connected. 

5. In the government of yourself you are actuated by conscience, 
by judgment, and by will. To which of the three departments may 
your conscience be likened? your judgment? your will? 

6.. Professor W. B. Munro says: "It would appear, therefore, 
that division of powers is not needed by the States in the interest 
of safety, that it is the mainspring of clouded responsibility and the 
absence of vigorous leadership in government, that it has been 
blindly carried to an extreme in the decentralizing of executive 
power, and that it should give place to some plan of concentrated 
authority." Is this observation pertinent to the conditions that 
exist in your State? Is the three-department system working badly 
in your State? Is there any sentiment in your State in favor of 
concentrating power in the manner referred to in the last paragraph 
of this chapter? How did the three-department system operate when 
it became desirable for us to make peace with Germany after the 
conclusion of the Great War? 

7. State to which of the three departments of government the 
following functions should be assigned: (a) the bombardment of a 
city by a fleet; (&) the sale of property for debt; (c) the execution 
of a murderer; {d) the sentencing of a thief; (e) the ordering of 
taxes to be collected; (/) the collection of taxes; (^r) the dispersal 
of a mob; {h) the muzzling of dogs; (i) the declaration of war; 
ij) the arrest of a man for disorderly conduct; (fc) the construction 
of a bridge; {I) the regulation of the descent of property; (m) the 
settling of a dispute between the heirs of an estate; {n) the regu- 
lation of the speed of automobiles; (o) the determination of dam- 
ages for injuries received in aq automobile accident. 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Doctrine of the Separation of Power: Johnson, 59-62, 

2. Evolution of the Separation of Powers: Gettell, 327-328. 

3. Checks and Balances in the United States Government: Gettell, 

332—336 

4. The Legislature: Gettell, 341-362. 

5. The Separation of Powers: Beard, 152-155. 



V 

CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 

Three of the great principles underlying the American government 
have now been explained : it has been learned that our country is a 
democracy resting upon the will of an electorate consisting practi- 
cally of the whole body of the adult population ; that the people gov- 
ern through their chosen representatives; that the powers of gov- 
ernment are distributed to three separate classes of officials. A 
fourth principle is this : In the United States, government is con- 
ducted according to the words of written documents, called consti- 
tutions. That is to say, we have a constitutional government. 

Colonial Charters. Americans from the beginning have 
been accustomed to the written word for guidance and con- 
trol in public affairs. Each colony had a written charter, 
which described the kind of government it was to have and 
the privileges it was to enjoy. The colonial charters, 
whether granted directly by the English King — as most of 
them were — or prepared b^^ the people themselves, were 
held in the highest esteem by the colonists. A colony looked 
upon its charter as the written guaranty of its liberties, 
much as an owner of property looks upon his deed as giv- 
ing him title to his home or farm. When the King or his 
officers became oppressive or unjust, the people would 
point to their charter as their defense. Since the char- 
ters were not all alike, the several governments of the 
colonies differed from one another; but since the charters 
were all of English origin, and since the laws of England 
applied to all the colonies alike, the government of one 
colony could not differ widely from that of another. 

Constitutions. When the colonies separated from Great 
Britain and became independent States, the old charters 
of course lost their validity, for there was no king to stamp 

31 



32 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

them with authority. The people saw at once that they 
must be their own king and make their own charters. As 
rapidly as possible, each of the new States drew up for 
itself a charter which recognized the people as the source 
of authority in government. A new name was given to this 
new instrument. Instead of its being called a charter, it 
was called a constitution. This constitution was to be the 
foundation plan and framework upon which the govern- 
mental structure was to be built. Of course, each new 
constitution was similar to the charter it supplanted. For 
a State to plan a government entirely unlike the one to 
which the people were accustomed would have been to com- 
mit a grave political error. A government that is new and 
strange is not likely to receive the confidence and respect 
of the people, no matter how wise and beneficent may be 
its provision. The statesmen of 1776, therefore, made the 
new State constitutions conform as closely as possible to 
the colonial charters. Connecticut and Rhode Island ex- 
perienced no change at all in passing from colony to 
State. They simply substituted the word "people" for 
the word "king" in their charters, and these became their 
constitutions. 

After they had established their independence, the 
States found that it was necessary to unite and form a 
central government. The powers of this central govern- 
ment were expressed in the Constitution of the United 
States. The history and nature of this great document 
will be given hereafter. It is sufficient here to say that the 
Constitution ^ of the United States is our fundamental law. 
We have had occasion to refer to it heretofore, and 
throughout our work we shall refer to it constantly, and 
as we advance we shall learn more and more of its author- 
ity and influence in our political life. 

Each of the States that have been admitted into the 
Union under the Constitution (118) has followed the ex- 

1 In this book when the word constitution begins with a capital letter the 
Constitution of the United States is meant. 



CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 33 

ample of the original States, and has framed a constitu- 
tion for itself. Every State, therefore, and the United 
States as well, has a written constitution as its fundamen- 
tal law. Every American citizen, therefore, lives under 
two constitutions. Cities likewise are governed by char- 
ters (p. 65), which in some respects are like written con- 
stitutions. Thus government in America is everywhere con- 
ducted according to the written word ; it is everywhere con- 
stitutional. 

How Constitutions Obtain Their Authority. The first 
American constitutions were promulgated in the name of 
the people; yet they were not, as a rule, the direct crea- 
tions of the people. The statesmen of 1776 did not have a 
very strong faith in democracy, and were not quite willing 
to submit a fundamental law to a popular vote. As 
democracy grew more fashionable, however, and as the 
people came to be more fully recognized as the real mas- 
ters of government, the custom of submitting constitutions 
to voters for their approval became general. At the pres- 
ent time a constitution is usually ratified by the people 
at the polls before it is put into operation. This popular 
ratification clothes the constitution with all the authority 
that a law can possibly have, for it is a law passed by the 
people themselves acting as legislators. A constitution, 
therefore, is a solemn and deliberate expression of the 
popular will, and as such it is a fixed, permanent law 
which all the branches of a government must obey. If 
the legislature should pass a law conflicting with the pro- 
visions of the constitution, such a law would cease to have 
effect if it should be tested in the courts and should be 
declared unconstitutional; and if a judge or the executive 
should act in violation of the constitution, such action 
would be illegal and possibly punishable. 

Outline of a Typical Constitution. If all the American 
constitutions were brought together and printed in a single 



34 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

book they would make an enormous volume. It is im- 
possible, therefore, for the detailed provisions of the con- 
stitutions to appear in a treatise like this. It is worth 
while, however, to call attention to the broad features of a 
constitution. The strong resemblance that the forty- 
eight constitutions of the States bear to one another and to 
the Constitution of the United States makes it possible to 
describe all in outline by describing one in outline. The 
essentials of a constitution are: 

(1) A brief preamMe (1) stating the general purpose 
for which the government is instituted. 

(2) A hill of rights, guaranteeing to the people dem- 
ocratic principles of government, personal security, the 
rights of life and property, freedom of conscience, free- 
dom of speech and of the press, and other fundamental 
rights of citizenship. 

(3) Provisions for the organization of the three depart- 
ments of government, and a description of the powers to be 
exercised by each. 

(4) Miscellaneous provisions relating to such topics as 
the suffrage, elections, local government, taxation, the pub- 
lie debt, corporations, transportation, education, labor, com- 
merce, and industry. 

(5) Provisions for amendment and revision. 

(6) A schedule describing how and when the constitution 
shall go into effect. 

Amendments and Revision of Constitutions. Of all the 

provisions in a constitution, the most important, perhaps, 
is the one relating to amendments and revisions. For, 
although a constitution is a fixed, unchanging law, it may 
not remain unchanged and unchangeable forever. A pro- 
vision in a constitution that was wise and just fifty years 
ago may be harmful now. Every constitution recognizes 
this fact, and provides for making changes when these may 
seem necessary. These changes, or amendments, are 
effected in various ways, the usual procedure being as fol- 



CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 35 

lows : ^ the amendment that is thought to be desirable first 
passes the legislature of the State and is then submitted to 
the people for their approval. If it receives the required 
number of votes it becomes a part of the constitution. An 
amendment, it will be seen, is simply a law passed by the 
people and placed in the constitution; but it is a law that 
cannot be repealed by the legislature. 

Constitutions provide not only for their own amend- 
ment, but also for their own complete revision. They pro- 
vide for the calling of a consiitutiojnql convention, which 
shall have power to revise the old constitiition and frame a 
new one. A general revision of a State constitution is 
usually accomplished in the following way : The legislature 
submits to the people the question whether or not a con- 
vention shall be called to frame a new constitution. In 
several States this question must be submitted to the voters 
every twenty years ; in Michigan it must be submitted every 
sixteen years; in Iowa every ten years. If the vote is in 
favor of a convention, delegates are elected, and the work 
of revision begins. It is the custom to submit the revised 
constitution to the people for their approval, although this 
is not always done. 

In the power of amendment resides the means of mak- 
ing in a peaceful and regular manner any kind of change 
that the people may desire; for it is a power that is un- 
restricted and unlimited. Through it great and radical 
reforms may be achieved without violence or social up- 
heaval. True, a constitution cannot be suddenly altered. 
A year or two, at least, must elapse before a proposed 
change can be fully effected. This delay has its disad- 
vantages, but upon the whole it results in good. It gives 
time for discussion and reflection. A constitution would 
not be worthy of its name if caprice or passion could 
change it in a day. 

1 In a number of States amendments are secured through the operation of 
the initiative and referendum (p. 157). For the method of amending the 
Constitution of the United States see page 152. 



36 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

If citizens believe that their State constitution or the 
Constitution of the United States stands in the way of 
reform or prevents their representatives from doing some- 
thing that in justice ought to be done, they should be 
quick to use the power of amendment. For constitutions 
ought to respond to social needs and aspirations. "Some 
men," sa3^s Thomas Jefferson, "look at constitutions with 
sanctimonious reverence, and deem them, like the ark of 
the covenant, too sacred to be touched. But I know that 
laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the prog- 
ress of the human mind. As that becomes more de- 
veloped, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, 
new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change 
with the change of circumstances, institutions must ad- 
vance also and keep pace with them." 

Questions on the Text 

1. What place did charters occupy in the political life of the 
colonies? 

2. By what process did government by charters change to govern- 
ment by constitutions? 

3. To what extent are written constitutions employed in the 
United States? 

4. From what source does a written constitution obtain its au- 
thority ? 

5. Give the outlines of a typical written constitution. 

6. How may a constitution be amended? How may a new con- 
stitution be revised? 

7. To what extent may the power of amendment be used for ac- 
complishing reforms? What did Jefferson think about making 
changes in constitutions? 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

1. What is the derivation of the word charter? constitution? 

2. Compare the constitution of your State in outline with the 
outline indicated in the text. 

3. Write a brief constitutional history of your State, telling when 
the first constitution was adopted, what revisions have been made, 
the date of the adoption of the present constitution, and describing 
any important amendments that may have been added. 

4. James Bryce, an Englishman, in one of his books says that 
he imagines that the American people could govern themselves with- 



CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 111 

out written constitutions. Give reasons why an American could 
hardly be able even to imagine such a thing. 

5. Explain fully the following sentence: "The United States is 
a democratic, representative, constitutional republic." 

6. Ought your State to have a new constitution? How could a 
new constitution be secured? 

7. Describe the kind of persons that should be chosen as members 
of a constitutional convention. 

8. Draw up a constitution of the government of a debating so- 
ciety. In preparing this exercise remember that a constitution de- 
scribes only the outlines of government and states only general 
principles. 

9. Would it be wise for your State to exchange constitutions 
with a neighboring State? Give reasons for your answer. 

10. The English Constitution. In all the countries of our Western 
World and in most of the countries of Europe, government is con- 
ducted according to the terms of a written constitution. In Eng- 
land, however, there is no written constitution, no single printed 
document that contains the whole body of the fundamental law of 
the land. There is, nevertheless, an English constitution, and it is 
one of which Englishmen are justly proud. It consists of the stat- 
utes of the English Parliament, of the rules of law as laid down by 
the courts, and of certain habits and practices that custom — and 
custom alone — has prescribed for the guidance of public officials. 
The English constitution can be changed at any time by the action 
of Parliament. 

TOPICS FOR Special Work 

1. Constitutional Conventions: Reinsch, 435-449. 

2. The Constitutional Convention: Holcorabe, 394-400. 

3. The Written and Unwritten Constitution: Kaye, 51-55. 

4. How the Colonies Were Governed: Hinsdale, 36-51. 

5. The Evolution of State Constitutions: Beard, 78-98. 




-^^ 



VI 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

The student now ought to understand what is meant when it is 
5aid that the United States is a democratic, representative, constitu- 
tional republic. But this statement does not describe fully the kind 
of government we have. A complete description would be this : The 
United States is a democratic, representative, constitutional, federal 
republic. For our country is a federal republic and has a federal 
government. It is necessary, therefore, at this point to take up the 
subject of federal government. 

Diiferent Kinds of Political Unions. An alliance is an 
agreement between two or more sovereign states to co- 
operate in the accomplishment of some mutually desirable 
purpose. A state entering into an alliance does not sur- 
render or impair its sovereignty. Since an alliance may be 
dissolved at the pleasure of any of the contracting parties, 
it is the weakest of all political unions. Another kind of 
union between states is the confederation or league. A 
confederation is formed by two or more states uniting and 
establishing a central government, vesting it with certain 
powers, but withholding from it the right of exercising 
authority over individuals. In exercising its power the 
central government of a confederation must operate 
through the agency of the states that compose the union. 
The states of a confederation, therefore, are united more 
firmly than they would be by an alliance, but not so 
closely and so intimate^ as to form an indestructible and 
indivisible union. 

The strongest of all political associations is the federal 
union. In the federal union the uniting states establish 
a central (federal) government which is 'independent of 

38 



FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 39 

themselves, and which operates with organs of its own, its 
power extending even to individuals. In the formation of 
the federal union— or the federal state, as it may very 
properly be called — the federal government is made 
sovereign in respect to matters that concern all the states 
taken collectively, while each separate state retains its 
sovereignty in respect to those matters that concern only 
i]:self. 

Complexity of American Government. The United States 
is a federal republic, and its government is complicated 
and difficult to understand. Under our system authority 
flows from two sources: we have one government of the 
nation and another government of the State ; we have two 
constitutions and two sets of laws to be obeyed, and two 
sets of officers to enforce the laws; we have forty-eight 
States working side by side, each attending to its o^vn af- 
fairs in its own way, and over and through and in all 
these States there is the federal government attending to 
the affairs of the nation. How is this twofold authority 
possible? How can a person serve two masters? Sup- 
pose the federal government should command what the 
State forbids, which shall be obeyed? Where is the line 
that divides the authority of the federal government from 
the authority of the State? Such questions as these early 
force themselves upon the student of American government. 
We may best approach the task of answer ^'ng fhem by tak- 
ing a glance at history. 

Beginnings of the American Union. The American Union 
as we see it to-day is the result of nearly three centuries 
of political association of colony with colony and State 
with State. The New England Confederation (1643), the 
Albany Plan of Union (1754), the Stamp Act Congress 
(1765), the First Continental Congress (1774), were step- 
ping-stones to the Union. The real beginning of our 
federal republic dates from 1775, when a Continental Con- 



40 THE AI^IERICAN DEMOCRACY 

gress composed of delegates from all the colonies met in 
Philadelphia. Earlier congresses had merely debated and 
petitioned and passed resolutions, but the Continental 
Congress of 1775 acted like a government. It took charge 
of those matters that were of general concern. It assumed 
command of the army that had been put into the field; it 
took charge of foreign affairs; it issued a currency; it 
managed the post-office. The question of its right to do 
these things was not raised. It did the things it thought 
the people wished it to do. Thus in 1776 it thought the 
people of the colonies wished a separation from the mother 
country. To make sure that it was not wrong in this 
opinion, it adjourned in order that the delegates might go 
back to their homes and learn the exact state of public 
sentiment. Upon reassembling, Congress, convinced that 
the people were ready for a separation, on July 4, 1776, 
declared the colonies free and independent States, ab- 
solved from all allegiance to the British crown. 

Articles of Confederation. While Congress was medi- 
tating independence, it was also considering plans for 
bringing all the colonies under one regular, permanent 
government. Franklin, in 1775, submitted a plan of con- 
federation, but it was not adopted. In 1776 John Dickin- 
son reported a plan, which in 1777 was adopted as the 
Articles of Confederation. These articles were submitted 
to the States for their approval, and in March, 1781, 
having been ratified by all the States, they became the 
framework for a new government for the United States. 
The government established by the Articles was a con- 
federation. Its sole organ of authority was a legislature 
of one house, called a Congress, presided over by a presi- 
dent elected by members from their own number. A State 
could not send fewer than two delegates nor more than 
seven to the Congress; but, whatever the number of dele- 
gates, a State had but one vote, determined by a majority 
of its delegates present. Voting was, therefore, done by 



FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 41 

States, and it required the votes of nine States to carry any 
important measure. Any alterations in the Articles had 
to be agreed to by Congress and afterward confirmed by 
the legislatures of all the States, a provision that made 
amendment practically impossible. The most important 
powers committed to the new government were : 

(1) To determine questions of peace and war. 

(2) To enter into treaties and alliances. 

(3) To send and receive ambassadors. 

(4) To make rules governing captures on land and 
water. 

(5) To decide, upon appeal, disputes between two 
States concerning boundaries. 

(6) To determine the value of current coin. 

(7) To manage Indian affairs. 

(8) To establish and regulate post-offices. 

(9) To appoint naval officers and the higher grades of 
army officers. 

The States, while bestowing these powers upon the con- 
federated government, expressly denied the same powers to 
themselves, and pledged themselves to abide by the deci- 
sions of Congress in all matters submitted to it for deter- 
mination. Congress could in no case bring its power to 
bear upon the individual citizen, nor had it any means at 
its command to compel the obedience of a State. 

Weakness of the Confederation. The government pro- 
vided by the Articles was deplorably weak both in its or- 
ganization and in its powers. It had no executive branch 
and no judicial branch, and as a legislature it was bad, for 
it was one of a single house. All the powers were united 
in one body. Such a government must either rule like a 
tyrant or it must collapse. 

As long as the war with England continued the Articles 
of Confederation rendered valuable service; but when 
peace came, and common danger no longer spurred the 
States to united action, it was soon seen that they were a 



42 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

rope of sand. It was seen that Congress "could make and 
conclude treaties, but could not recommend the observance 
of them. It could appoint ambassadors, but could not de- 
fray the expenses of their tables. It could borrow money, 
but could not pay a dollar. It could coin money, but 
could not purchase an ounce of bullion. It could make 
war and determine what troops were necessary, but could 
not raise a single soldier. In short, it could declare every- 
thing, but do nothing." It could not do what every use- 
ful government must be able to do ; it could not secure 
obedience to its laws; it could not reach the individual, 
and it would have been folly to attempt to enforce its laws 
against a State. 

As a result of its inherent weakness the Confederation 
soon fell into a deplorable condition. Solemn treaties 
were violated, debts were repudiated, worthless paper 
money was issued. State quarreled with State. Disregard 
for the laws of Congress was naturally followed by a con- 
tempt for the laws of the State. In several States courts 
were broken up by armed mobs, and rebellion threatened 
the very existence of government. Congress sank to such 
a condition of inefficiency and feebleness that it lost the re- 
spect of the country. 

Efforts to Strengthen the Confederation. Thoughtful 
men saw the approaching downfall of the Confederation 
with alarm. They recognized that if the union of the 
States were dissolved, and each State should assume com- 
plete and undisputed sovereignty, the fruits of independ- 
ence would be most bitter. With thirteen nations in- 
stead of one, the country would be the easy prey of for- 
eign invaders ; sectional interests would jostle each other 
and bring State into conflict with State ; commerce between 
the States would be shackled ; and all the social, moral, and 
intellectual advantages that flow from union would be lost. 
Before it was too late, men like Washington and Ham- 
ilton and Franklin came forward with measures designed 



FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 



43 



to strengthen the union. In 1785 commissioners from 
Maryland and Virginia met at "Washington's home in 
Mount Vernon to adjust some matters of interstate navi- 
gation. At this meeting Washington suggested that the 
two States ought to enter into an agreement as to the regu- 
lation of interstate commerce in all particulars. The dia- 



.'^<^---^. 




a 







1781 

ARTICLES OP 

CONFEDEBATION 



1776 

DECLARATION OP 

INDEPENDENCE 






SECOND CONTINENTAL 
CONGRESS. 1775 
(Thirteen Colonies) 



FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 
1774. (Twelve Colonies) 



1765. STAMP ACT CONGRESS. (Nine Colonies) 



1754. THE ALBANY CONVENTION. (Seven Colonies) 



1643. THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION. (Pour Colonies) 



THE GROWTH OF THE CONSTITUTION 

cussion following this suggestion showed that if there was 
to be any useful regulation of commerce between the States 
all the States must join. Accordingly, all the States were 
invited to appoint commissioners to discuss the matter. In 
response to this invitation five of the thirteen States met 
at Annapolis in 1786. This representation was considered 



44 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

too small and the meeting adjourned without attempting 
anything. Before adjourning, however, it recommended 
that a convention of all the States be held at Philadel- 
phia in May, 1787, 'Ho take into consideration the situa- 
tion of the United States, to devise such further provi- 
sions as shall appear necessary to render the Constitution 
of the federal ^ government adequate to the exigencies of 
the times." Congress, seeing the drift of affairs, adopted 
the idea of holding a general convention, and resolved that 
it was expedient that in May, 1787, one be held at Phila- 
delphia "for the sole and express purpose of revising the 
Articles of Confederation." 

Questions on the Text 

1. Define alliance; confederation. 
2. What is a federal union? In what respect does a federal union 
differ from a confederation? 

3. What were some of the things done by the Continental Con- 
gress of 1775? 

4. Describe the Confederation of 1781. What were the most im- 
portant powers of the Confederation? 

5. Point out the defects of the Confederation and give an account 
of its decline and fall. 

6. What efforts were made to strengthen the Confederation in its 
last days? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. What is the derivation of the word federal? 

2. Name the federal governments of the earth. 

3. What does an individual state lose by entering into a federal 
union? What does it gain? 

4. Indicate the growth of federation in America by reproducing 
the diagram on p. 43. Give a brief historical account of each event 
referred to in the diagram. 

5. Is the League of Nations an alliance or a confederation? 

6. Name the states that have joined the League of Nations. 

7. Give an account of the services of Benjamin Franklin in the 
cause of American Union. 

8. Prepare a five-minute paper on the "Dark Days of the Con- 
federation." Consult Fiske's "Critical Period of American History." 

1 The Confederation was frequently called a federal government. In 1787 
men had not yet learned to distinguish clearly between a federal and a con- 
federated government. 



FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 45 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Formation of the Union: Hinsdale, 69-72. 

2. Defects in the Articles of Confederation: Kaye, 39-44. 

3. Reasons for the Failure of the Articles of Confederation: Beard, 

30-42. 

4. Preliminaries of National Government: Munro, 14-25. 

5. Confederation: Gettell, 264-266. 



VII 

THE WORK OF THE FATHERS 

The Constitution Framed and Ratified. The call of Con- 
gress for a convention was responded to by all the States 
excepting Rhode Island. The men sent to the Con- 
vention were the ablest and wisest in America. They rep- 
resented conflicting interests, and differed widely among 
themselves in their views of government, but iliey were 
capable of placing the public good above selfish considera- 
tions. They had not proceeded far with their work be- 
fore they saw that a mere revision of the Articles of Con- 
federation would not bring relief to the country. If union 
was to be anj^thing more than a name, there must be a 
central government clothed with substantial power. In- 
stead of continuing the Confederation, which was avow- 
edly a mere ''league of friendship" in which the exercise 
of power depended upon the States, the men of the Con- 
vention bravely decided to frame a Constitution for a real 
federal government, one that should have its three de- 
partments conducted by its own officials, and that should 
be independent of the State in the exercise of its powers. 
The proposed government was to reach the individu.al, 
make laws for him, take money out of his pocket for taxes, 
and judge and punish him if he violated its laws. 

The fram.ework of the new government was agreed to 
after a most serious and thorough discussion, and was sub- 
mitted in September, 1787, to the people of the States as 
a "Constitution for the United States of America." If 
ratified by nine States (129) the new Constitution was to 
go into operation. Its adoption was opposed fiercelj^ by 
those who did not believe in a strong central government ; 

46 



THE WORK OF THE FATHERS 47 

but its friends were stronger than its enemies, and by July, 
1788, it had been ratified by eleven States, North Caro- 
lina and Rhode Island withholding their consent. 

Distribution of Powers. If we are to have clear ideas' about 
our political sj^stem, we must understand how the Conven- 
tion of 1787 distributed power ; we must know what powers 
were given to the new federal government established by 
the Constitution, and what powers the States were allowed 
to retain. It will help us to understand this subject if we 
will suppose that the men of the Convention had at their 
disposal all the powers of a sovereign state, all the powers 
that it is possible for a government to exercise, and that 
they divided these powers between the new federal govern- 
ment and the existing State government in such a manner 
as they thought best. With this supposition in mind, let us 
see what disposal they made of the great reservoir of 
governmental power at their command. And first let us 
learn what powers they gave exclusively to the federal 
government : 

I. Powers Exclusively Federal. When granting a 
power exclusively to the federal government, it had to be 
plain to the minds of the framers (1) that the States would 
be willing to surrender the power; (2) that the federal 
government needed the power; (3) that the power when 
exercised would affect all the States alike. Applying these 
tests to each grant of power, the framers gave the federal 
government absolute control in the following matters : war, 
peace, treaties, alliances, ambassadors, postal affairs, the 
army and navy, foreign commerce, interstate commerce, 
naturalization, coinage of money, Indian affairs, bank- 
ruptcy, patents, copyrights, territories, letters of marque 
and reprisal. 

II. Concurrent Powers. If the proposed federal gov- 
ernment was to be strong and efficient, it must be per- 
mitted to raise money by taxation and to borrow money ; it 
must define the qualifications of those who were to vote 



48 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

for its officers and regulate the time and manner of hold- 
ing the elections of its officers; it must have the support 
of the State militia in times of war. But it was not con- 
sidered wise for the federal government to be given the 
exclusive power of collecting taxes and borrowing money 
and controlling elections and the militia. Hence it became 
necessary for the framers to grant certain powers to the 
federal government, and at the same time to reserve powers 
of the same kind for the State. Powers belonging to both 
governments are called concurrent. The concurrent 
powers established by the Convention relate to the follow- 
ing matters: taxation, public debt, citizenship, suffrage, 
elections, militia. 

III. Powers Prohibited to the Federal Government. 
While the framers planned for a federal government that 
should be capable of achieving its rightful purposes, they 
at the same time took care that it should not be ^n instru- 
ment of oppression. To safeguard the interests of the 
States, they formally prohibited certain powers to the 
federal government. The powers denied to the federal 
government in the Convention are stated in Article 
I, Section 9, of the Constitution. Other prohibitions 
are found in the first eight articles of the amend- 
ments that were adopted in 1791 to allay the fears of those 
who thought the new government might exceed its powers. 
These eight amendments are the bill of rights of the Con- 
stitution. They restrain the federal government, but they 
do not restrain the State. 

TV. Powers Prohibited to the State. The framers saw 
that certain limitations upon the power of the State would 
also be wholesome. Indeed, in 1787 prohibitions upon the 
power of the State were more necessary than prohibitions 
upon the federal government ; for the States were strong 
and were disposed to disregard the authority of the central 
government. Accordingly, as a pledge of good faith on the 
part of the States, a self-denying section (Article I, Sec- 
tion 10) was inserted in the Constitution. 



THE WORK OF THE FATHERS 49 

It should be noticed that there are several prohibitions 
Upon both the State and the federal government. 
Neither a State nor the United States can grant any title 
of nobility (71, 73) ; pass an expost facto law — that is, a 
law that makes criminal an act that was not so when com- 
mitted, or that increases the severity of the punishment of 
a previous act (65, 73) ; or enact any bill of attainder, that 




THE DISTRIBUTION OF ROWERS 
(Suggested by C, S. Tiedemann) 

Outer circle — ^AU the powers of Govern- 
ment 

Circle A — Powers exclusively Federal 

Circle B — Powers of the State 

■Segment C — ^Concurrent powers 

Segment D — Powers prohibited to the 
Federal Government 

Segment E — Powers denied to the State 

is, a law that inflicts punishment without judicial trial 
(65, 73). These are things that no popular government 
ought to do, and in the United States they can not possibly 
be done by any existing governmental agency. Still an- 
other prohibition upon both the State and the federal 
government is that which refers to exports: Congress can 
lay no duty on articles exported from any State, and the 
State is also practically prohibited from levying export 
duties (67,74). 

V. " Powers Reserved to the State. After the framers 
had provided for the general powers of the federal govern- 



50 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ment, and had made the needful prohibitions of power, we 
may think of them as having reserved to the States and 
to the people all the remaining powers of government. 
They did not formally make this reservation in the Con- 
vention, but it was understood that the powers not granted 
to the federah government or prohibited to the States re- 
mained to be exercised as the States or as the people of the 
United States might ordain. In order that there might be 
no mistake on this point, an amendment (144) adopted in 
1791 declared that "the powers not delegated to the United 
States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the 
States are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
people. ' ' The nature and extent of the powers reserved to 
the State will be the subject of the following chapter. 
At present it is enough to say that the framers were able to 
invest the federal government with supreme powers in 
reference to the great affairs of a nation and still leave the 
State supreme in most of the affairs that concern us in 
daily life. 

Implied and Resulting Powers of the Federal Government. 

The powers of the federal government are accurately de- 
fined and enumerated in the Constitution (Article I, Sec- 
tion 8). Among these powers is one giving Congress the 
right to make all laws that are necessary and proper (63) 
for the execution of the enumerated powers. Under the 
authority of this right there have been exercised many 
implied powers, — powers that are not specifically men- 
tioned in the Constitution, but that naturally arise from 
those that are specifically mentioned. For example, from 
the expressed power of regulating commerce (47) arise the 
implied powers of building lighthouses and improving har- 
bors; from the expressed power of coining money (49) 
arises the implied power of establishing mints. Hundreds 
of things done by the federal government are justified by 
the doctrine of implied powers. 

The Constitution does not expressly grant to the federal 



THE WORK OF THE FATHERS t© 

government certain powers that the government of a sov- 
ereign nation ought to have. To meet this deficiency 
Alexander Hamilton brought forward his doctrine of re- 
sulting powers — powers that result from the '^ whole mass 
of the power of government, and from the nature of polit- 
ical society, rather than as a consequence of any especially 
enumerated power." According to Hamilton's views, a 
new sovereign nation had been brought into being by the 
ei'ents of the Revolution and the adoption of the Consti- 
tution; and this nation, by the very fact of its existence, 
possessed all the powers a nation ought to have, whether 
all were mentioned in the Constitution or not. For ex- 
ample, he contended that if the United States should con- 
quer a country, it would have sovereign jurisdiction in that 
country, although the Constitution says nothing whatever 
about such jurisdiction. Hamilton was bitterly opposed by 
Jefferson and others who believed in holding the federal 
government strictly to the terms of the Constitution; but 
the doctrine of resulting powers carried the day, and Jef- 
ferson was destined to give to it its most distinguished ap- 
plication when he purchased Louisiana without authority 
specifically expressed in the Constitution. 

Limitations of the Federal Government. It must not be 
understood that under the guise of implied and resulting 
powers the federal government can do anything and every- 
thing, for it is in a true sense a government of limited 
powers. Jefferson and Hamilton were both right. We 
are bound by the words of the Constitution, as Jefferson 
contended; but, as Hamilton contended, the words "gen- 
eral welfare" (45) and the ''elastic clause" (63) are broad 
enough to permit us to do anything consistent with the 
purposes for which the Constitution was adopted. 

How the Federal Constitution Is Amended. Changes in 
the distribution of powers, and additions to and subtrac- 
tions from the power of the federal government, are brought 



%i^ THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

about by the amendment of the Constitution (122). 
Under the Confederation an amendment to the Articles 
could be adopted only with the consent of all the States. 
The Fathers, regarding this rule as being too rigid, pro- 
vided easier methods of amending the Constitution. The 
four processes by which the Constitution may be changed 
are: (1) and (2) Congress, by a two-thirds vote of both 
houses, may submit an amendment to the States for ratifica- 
tion (122), and if the amendment thus submitted is rati- 
fied by the legislatures of three fourths of the States, or 
by Conventions in three fourths of the States, it becomes a 
part of the Constitution; (3) and (4) a national Constitu- 
tional Convention, called by Congress upon the application 
of the legislatures of two thirds of the States, may submit 
an amendment to the States for ratification, and if the 
amendment thus submitted is ratified by the legislatures of 
three fourths of the States, or by Conventions in three 
fourths of the States, it becomes a part of the Constitution 
(123). 

Although it is much easier to amend the Constitution 
now than it was under the Articles, still many people be- 
lieve that the present method of amendment is more cum- 
brous and difficult than is consistent with the free play of 
the popular will. Recent experience, however, has taught 
that amendments can be secured rather easily and with 
considerable celerity. Within less than a decade three pro- 
foundly important Articles have been added to the funda- 
mental law. The rigidity of the methods of amending the 
Constitution, therefore, is, after all, not such a very bad 
thing. Indeed, looked at in one way, this rigidity is a 
very good thing; for, as Professor Ross says, once a good 
reform has been nailed down in the Constitution, we know 
it is there to stay. If it were easy to get a reform in, it 
would be easier to get it out, and we should be kept in a 
constant tumult of change. 



THE WORK OF THE FATHERS '53 

Questions on the Text 

1. Give an account of the framing and ratification of the Consti- 
tution. 

2. What tests did the framers apply to each grant of power given 
exclusively to the federal government? 

3. What matters were placed entirely under federal control? 

4. What is a concurrent power? To what matters do the con- 
current powers relate ? 

5. Enumerate the powers prohibited by the Constitution to the 
federal government. 

6. Enumerate the powers prohibited to the States. 

7. Name four powers prohibited to both governments. 

8. What is the nature of the powers reserved to the State? 

9. What is an implied power? a resulting power? 

10. Explain why the federal government is one of limited powers. 

11. In what four ways may the federal Constitution be amended? 
Discuss the methods of amending the Constitution. 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

1. For the purpose of exhibiting the powers of government under 
our federal system prepare a large chart similar to' the one found on 
page 49. Let the outer circle of the figure represent all the powers 
of government, all the powers that were at the disposal of the fram- 
ers. In circle A write the powers exclusively federal ; in segment G 
the concurrent powers; in segment D the powers prohibited to the 
federal government; in segment E the' powers denied to the State. 
Reserve circle B for the powers of the State. 

2. Discuss each of the powers granted exclusively to the federal 
government, and give reasons for the grant. 

3. Explain fully this sentence: "The United States is a demo- 
cratic, representative, constitutional, federal republic." 

Topics fob, Special Work 

1. First Amendments to the Constitution: Johnson, 134-142, 

2. Origin of the Federal Convention: Johnson, 93-101. 

3. Legislatures of the Union: Hinsdale, 236-242. 

4. The Present Meaning of the Constitution: Kaye, 65-72. 

5. The Supreme Law of the Land: Munro, 44-57. 

6. Distribution of Powers in a Federal Government: Gettell, 271- 

276. 



VIII 
THE STATE 

It will add greatly to an understanding of oiir political system if 
we now learn the leading facts about tlie State considered as one of 
the component parts of the federal Union. What are the powers of 
the State? How are disputes between the States and the federal 
government settled ? What is the relation of one State to another ? 

Powers of the State. After independence had been de- 
clared and the colonies had been transformed into States, 
each State found itself the possessor of almost unlimited 
political power. No State^ however, at any time actually 
exercised all the powers of government. For example, no 
State ever made a treaty with a foreign country. Prom the 
moment of their separation from England, the States re- 
lied upon a central government, the Continental Congress, 
to manage the affairs of war and peace and to establish for- 
eign relations. Nevertheless, this central government was 
never strong, and in its last days it ean hardly be said to 
have possessed any power at all. The States, therefore, 
went into the Convention of 1787 as masters of the situa- 
tion. 

We have learned what powers they granted to the new 
federal government, what powers they expressly denied 
to it, what powers they expressly denied to themselves, and 
we have seen that they reserved for themselves all the 
powers they did not part with in the Convention. What 
were these reserved powers? This question cannot be 
fully answered. The powers of the federal government 
can be enumerated, but the powers of the State can be indi- 
cated only in general terms. The framers provided liber- 
ally for the federal government, but they did not deprive 
the State of the privilege of managing its own affairs in its 

54 



THE STATE 55 

own way. The State government could still enter the home 
and prescribe the legal relations that were to exist be- 
tween husband and wife, between parent and child, be- 
tween master and servant ; it could still enter the domain 
of business with laws to regulate buying and selling, debt 
and credit, partnership and contracts, possession and aliena- 
tion of property, wills and inheritances ; it could still con- 
trol all its local governments, county and city and town, 
and almost all private corporations (p. 65) ; it could still 
maintain its own schools and its own system of police; it 
could still administer justice in all ordinary cases and 
punish all ordinary crimes ; it could still determine the re- 
ligious, civil, and political rights of its citizens and pre- 
scribe the qualifications of voters and conduct its elec- 
tions. 

The powers reserved to the State included those that 
the State was free to exercise, and that it actually was 
exercising under the Constitution at the time of its adop- 
tion, and they also included those that the State in the fu- 
ture might have occasion to exercise. In 1787 there were 
no railroads, and consequently there was no such thing as 
a power in reference to a railroad ; yet, when railroads be- 
gan to be built, they fell under the authority of the State 
by reason of its reserved powers (143, 144). And so it has 
been with the powers relating to the telegraph and tele- 
plione and scores of other things that had not been dreamed 
of in 1787. 

Conflict of Federal and State Authority. Under such a 
scheme of powers as has been ordained by the Constitu- 
tion, it is to be expected that State authority will some- 
times clash with federal authority. The federal govern- 
ment within the circle of its powers is supreme and irresist- 
ible, and the State within its circle is independent of any 
higher power. Where two governments exercise political 
power within the same territory over the same people, dis- 
putes are almost certain to arise. Then again, the con- 



56 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

current powers relating to taxation, elections, and citi- 
zenship are sometimes a source of conflict. Moreover, there 
will sometimes be collisions between the two governments 
when each is exercising a power that appears to be strictly 
its own. 

For example, if in the exercise of its police power 
(p. 384) a State should pass a law forbidding the running 
of trains from one point to another within the boundaries 
of the State on Sunday, it might appear to be acting 
strictly within the scope of its authority; yet such a law 
would almost certainly clash with the federal regulations 
for carrying the mails. What is to be done in such a case ? 
Shall the engineer move on with the train and carry the 
mails, or shall the State law be obeyed ? The f ramers of 
the Constitution provided a method of determining all such 
questions. It devolved the duty upon the Supreme Court 
of the United States. It is the constant task of the Su- 
preme Court, when rendering decisions in cases brought 
before it, to keep each government within its proper 
sphere ; and for more than a hundred and thirty years this 
tribunal has performed this delicate service with remark- 
able success. 

Interstate Relations. Politically speaking, one State is 
quite independent of another. A State may establish such 
a government as seems to it best, providing that its con- 
stitution and laws are not contrary to the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, and providing that its govern- 
ment is republican in form. The republican form of gov- 
ernment guaranteed to the State by the Constitution (120) 
is, broadly speaking, one in which the principle of repre- 
sentative democracy is recognized. The federal govern- 
ment under this guaranty would not permit an autocracy 
or an oligarchy or a monarchy to be established within a 
State. When rival governments are set up within a State, 
the federal government will decide which is the lawful 
government, and if necessary will assist in crushing the 
unlawful rival. 



THE STATE 57 

Gongrefs of the United States^ 

AT TRe' THIR.O SESStOK^ 

Bcguii and held at the City of PhiladcIphLi,^«a& 

Monday the iixth of December,: one jiio\jr' 

faiid feven hundred and ninet3r;> 

^a A^T far 'the Admission of tin: Statf/^ VERMoSrjn^ 
tim Ukion. 

J.. HE State ef Vermbat having peiitidned the Cbngtjtife to tiea^ 
miued a member of the Uftited Stafern Be it ewBcd by the. SeSajb 
and House tf R£PRE««<rATi\ ns cf tke UaHed Stafa of America pf, 
Congrefs ajfembhd, wid it is bcrc&y evaded aiid dccUiredx That ort the 
fourth day of March, oiie thoofand feveo hundred and nmety-onc^ 
theJaid State^ by the name and ftife of " the State of^ Vjermont," 
.fiiall be fecdved a&d admitted into this Uhiost^ as ^ n^wdnd eiuirc\ 
H^iB^ of _the Uaited States of America. 

iFREpERiCK AUGUSTUS MUllLEMBERC, 
^$pcnlu:r<.of tbc Hatifi of fteprefentiitivcii^ 

l^mi ADAMS, ina-Ffefident <ftbe United ^tai£t\ 
, and FreJidcrJ of the Senate*/ 

/A/piovED, February the etgliteemfr, Cj^t. 

GEORGE WASHQ^GTON,>/-g^^«/ bfiheUmttd S^] 

Dei^sitei) zmon^ the Bx>us ia th^Q^^f of ^^£Cb^^^ 
r<rfSt-ATs. - - 



wrc&tm 



THE ACT WHICH ADMITTED THE FIRST NEW STATE 




68 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Although the political isolation that exists between the 
States is quite complete, nevertheless a State cannot treat 
another State precisely as if it were a foreign country. 
Under the Constitution, there are several important inter- 
state obligations: 

(1) If one State recognizes a certain law or certain 
records, as of wills or deeds, as valid, all other States must 
recognize them as valid (115). If the authorities in Maine 
recognize a certain law of the State as being a good law, 
the authorities of all the other States must recognize that 
law as being good in Maine, although the law need not 
be obeyed in the other States. 

(2) A State must accord to a citizen of another State 
who comes within its borders all the rights and privileges 
that it accords to its own citizens (116). For example, 
a citizen of Pennsylvania can go into Illinois and move 
about and transact business on the same terms with the 
citizens of the latter State. 

(3) When a criminal flees from a State in which he has 
committed a crime into another State, the governor of the 
latter State is charged with the duty of assisting in the 
arrest of the criminal and in his return to the State in 
which the crime was committed (117). If, however, the 
governor of a State for any reason, good or bad, should re- 
fuse such assistance, there is no way to compel him to 
perform his duty. Here the Constitution has issued a 
mandate with no provisions for its enforcement. The sur- 
render of fugitive criminals, therefore, seems to rest quite 
as much upon interstate comity and courtesy as upon con- 
stitutional necessity. In practice governors seldom fail 
to do their duty in arresting and returning fugitive 
criminals. 

Although a State is permitted, under the Constitution, 
to regulate its own affairs quite without regard to its sister 
States, yet, as a matter of fact, no State does this. Every 
State, in framing its constitution and making its laws, has 
been influenced consciously or unconsciously by the social 



THE STATE 59 

and commercial conditions existing in neighboring States. 
This interstate influence is making laws and customs 
throughout the United States more and more uniform. 

Preservation of the Federal System. We now understand 
that the line dividing the authority of the federal govern- 
ment from the authority of the State is clearly drawn in 
the Constitution of the United States. On one side of the 
line are the powers relating to matters that concern the 
welfare of the whole body of the American people. These 
are the federal pgwers. On the other side of the line are 
those powers that relate to matters of local and individual 
concern. These powers belong to the State. If our 
federal system is to be preserved, this line must never be 
obliterated. The State must not cross over the line and 
trespass upon the authority of the federal government, 
thus impairing the glory and greatness of the Union; 
while the federal government must also keep within its 
proper bounds, and refrain from usurping the powers of 
the State and becoming an enemy of local self-government 
and individual rights. 

Whether the federal relations established b}^ the Fathers 
will be maintained, or not, will depend upon the intel- 
ligence, vigilance, and political sagacity of the people. If 
Americans hold their representatives to a faithful observ- 
ance of the Constitution, there is little danger that either 
the State or the federal government will be robbed of its 
rightful powers. If, however, voters are careless and in- 
different, it is likely that the federal government will draw 
to itself more and more power, and that the arm of the 
State will wither. This is the direction in which things 
seem to be moving at the present time. Is this tendency not 
regrettable? Do we want the forty-eight States to be 
thrown into a melting-pot and changed into a homogeneous 
political mass forming a consolidated nation like France, 
where the powers of the central government extend to the 
smallest affairs of the smallest village ? 



60 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

It would seem that we are vastly too large to be governed 
in any other way than in the federal way. The govern- 
ment at Washington can hardly be trusted to issue orders 
to our governors and to the mayors of our cities, directing 
them as to how they shall conduct their affairs. If we do 
not preserve local self-government we shall hardly escape 
federal tyranny. ''If the day," says John Fiske, "should 
ever arrive (which God forbid!) when the people of the 
different parts of our country shall allow their local affairs 
to be administered by prefects sent from Washington, and 
when the self-government of the States shall have been so 
far lost as that of the departments of France, or even so 
closely limited as that of the counties of England — on that 
day the political career of the American people will have 
been robbed of its most interesting and valuable features, 
and the usefulness of this nation will be lamentably im- 
paired." 

Questions on the Text 

1. Indicate in general terms the powers of the States* 

2. What is the nature of the reserved powers of the States? 

3. For what reason is there likely to be conflict between States 
and federal authority? How are disputes between the State and the 
federal government settled? 

4. What is the nature of the republican form of government to 
which a State is entitled? 

5. What interstate relations are established by the Constitution? 

6. How may you distinguish State authority from federal au- 
thority? 

7. Why is it important that existing State and federal relations 
be preserved? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. On the large chart suggested in the preceding chapter insert 
in circle B the most important State powers. 

2. Prepare a ten-minute paper on "Our State." (Sketch briefly 
the history of your State; write of its size, its population, its in- 
dustries, its resources, its schools, its cities, its great men.) 

3. Show how neighboring States have influenced your State in 
reference to (a) government, (6) religion, (c) occupation, {d) edu- 
cation, (e) political parties. 

4. Of the following matters name those that come wdthin the 
authority of the federal government: (a) punishment for robbing 



THE STATE 61 

the mails; (h) regulation of the speed of trains; (c) the suppres- 
sion of a riot; {d) punishment for robbing a store; (e) the con- 
struction of a sewer; (/) the building of a school-house; {g) the 
construction of a battle-ship; (h) the repairing of a road; (i) the 
defense of a coast; (;') the improvement of a harbor; {k) the grant- 
ing of a pension to a soldier; (Z) the borrowing of money for a 
public purpose; (m) the annexation of territory; {n) the maintain- 
ing of a military academy; (o) the protection of the public health; 
(p) the organization of a company of militia; (g) the controlling 
of the movements of a flying-machine; (r) the protection of an au- 
thor in his rights; (s) the regulation of the descent of property; 
(t) the construction of a canal from Cleveland, Ohio, to Columbus, 
Ohio; the construction of a canal from Columbus, Ohio, to Chicago; 
{u) the regulation of the use of dynamite; {v) the regulation of 
wireless telegraphy; (w) the regulation of wireless telephony; (a?) 
the regulation of the speed of automobiles. 

5. What power (or powers) now exercised by the State would 
you have transferred to the federal government ? Is there any power 
now exercised by the federal government that ought to be transferred 
to the State? 

6. What are the terms upon which a new State may be admitted 
to the Union (118) ? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Limitations of the State: Hinsdale, 243-247. 

2. The Nature of the Union: Johnson, 334-343. 

3. The Constitution and the New Federalism: Kaye, 76-82. 

4. The States and the Federal Government: Kaye, 89-92; Munro, 

389-404. 

5. The Constitutional Basis of State Government: Beard, 428-457. 



IX 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

When studying the distribution of powers under our federal sys- 
tem, we found (p. 55) that the localities — the counties, cities, towns, 
villages, townships — are controlled by the State. Since these minor 
divisions are so important an element in our political framework, 
and since the affairs of the locality touch the citizen so directly and 
so constantly, we shall do well at this point to consider the broad 
aspects of local government. What powers are granted to the local 
government? In what relation does the locality stand to the State? 
What policy should the State adopt when dealing with the local 
governments ? 

Divisipn of the Powers of tKe State. We have learned 
how governmental power is broadly divided between the 
federal government and the State. There is a further 
division to be studied. The State does not exercise di- 
rectly, through the agency of State officers, all the powers 
that belong to it, but shares its powers with inferior gov- 
ernments, which it creates, and which it equips with proper 
officers. These lov\^er governments are called local, be- 
cause they transact the public business of a locality only. 
The local governments that are found in all the States are 
counties and municipal corporations (villages, boroughs, 
towns, cities). In many States there is an additional 
local government known as the township — "town" it is 
usually called in New England. 

The powers granted to the local governments are not 
the same in all the States, yet it may be said that as a rule 
the local government does the following things : 

(1) It preserves the peace and good order of the locality. 

(2) It supports the public schools. 

(3) It cares for the public health. 

62 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 63 

(4) It helps the poor and unfortunate. 

(5) It assesses and collects taxes. 

(6) It opens and repairs roads and paves streets and 
builds bridges. 

(7) It establishes and supports courts of lower grades. 

(8) It erects public buildings. 

It should be clearly understood that the local govern- 
ment is in all things dependent upon the State. The re- 
lation of a cit}^, for example, to the State is entirely dif- 
ferent from the relation that exists between, the State and 
the Union. The powers of the State are its own,; the 
federal government cannot subtract from them nor add to 
them. The powers of a city are not its own; the State 
gives them and the State can take them away. What the 
State creates it can govern according to its own will. The 
State can deprive local officers of their positions and ad- 
minister the affairs of the locality — the county, or city, 
or whatever it may be — with officers of the State govern- 
ment. 

While it is true that the State has the power to send its 
officers into a localitj^ and govern it without consulting its 
citizens, yet as a matter of fact the State does not use its 
power in this way. In practice the State allows the people 
of a community to elect their local officers and to conduct 
their local affairs largely according to their own notions. 
Any other policy would be contrary to the political in- 
stincts of the American people, and would excite the most 
bitter resentment. A denial of the right of local self- 
government would be an attack upon the principle of 
democracy. Where the people do not have their will in 
respect to their schools and roads and the other affairs of 
local concern, they do not enjoy fully the blessings of 
popular government. 

Three Grades of Government. Thus everywhere in the 
United States there a»e three grades of government in 
operation: (1) The federal government defends us against 



64 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

foreign foes, attends to foreign affairs, delivers and collects 
the mails, regulates the currency and foreign and inter- 
state commerce, maintains federal courts to try cases that 
come under federal jurisdiction, and collects the federal 
taxes. The federal government does these things in its 
own way with its own officers, and the people of the local- 
ity and of the State are not consulted. (2) The State 
government is responsible everywhere within its borders 
for the following things : for the protection of life, liberty, 
property, and reputation ; for the punishment of crime ; 
for the maintenance of justice; for the holding of elec- 
tions; for the regulation of domestic and business rela- 
tions; for the collection of State taxes; for the fulfilment 
of the constitutional guaranties contained in the bill of 
rights. The State is responsible for these things, and it 
does not surrender its power in reference to them. It 
either attends to them through the agency of its own 
officers, or it compels the local government to attend to 
them. (3) The local government attends to the matters 
enumerated in the preceding section. 

How Local Governments Eeceive Their Powers. There 
is not a-word in the federal Constitution about local govern- 
ment. The locality receives all its powers from the State 
constitution and the State legislature. Counties and town- 
ships are usually organized and governed under general laws 
passed by the legislature. All the counties and townships 
within the State have substantially the same kind of 
government and the same powers. 

The government of cities and boroughs and villages is 
accomplished through the agency of municipal corpora- 
tions. A corporation is a group of individuals author- 
ized by law to act in respect to certain specified matters 
as one individual; or it is a group of natural persons 
authorized to act as one artificial person. This artificial 
person, known as a corporation, lives forever, unless the 
power (the law) that created it chooses to destroy it or to 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 65 

limit the period of its existence ; it has a name, and under 
this name it can sue and be sued in the courts like a 
natural person; with certain restrictions, it can acquire 
property and borrow money like an ordinary person ; it 
can make such by-laws (local laws) as may be necessary to 
regulate its internal affairs, and these by-laws have all. 
the force of law. 

Corporations are either private or public. A private 
corporation is one organized for the private profit or 
pleasure of the individuals who secure the incorporation. 
Railroads, banks, colleges, clubs, are examples of private 
corporations. Public corporations are organized for polit- 
ical purposes, for the promotion of the public welfare. 
Counties and towns and townships are public corporations 
in so far as they are permitted to hold property and to 
sue and be sued. The most conspicuous example of a 
public corporation, however, is the municipal {municipium^ 
town) corporation. Wherever there is a community with a 
compact population requiring special governmental powers, 
the State gives this community a name and boundaries, 
organizes its citizens into a municipal corporation, and 
grants to it the right of municipal or local self-government. 

The written instrument that specifies the rights and 
privileges of a corporation is its charter. The charter of 
a municipal corporation names the municipality, describes 
its boundaries, and states in great detail how the local 
government is to be organized, and what powers it is to 
exercise. The powers that a municipality enjoys under 
its charter may be such as are granted to municipalities 
under a general law of the legislature, or they may be 
specific powers granted by a special law. 

The State legislatures, through their power to grant 
charters to municipalities, have, in most of the States, an 
almost complete control over cities, and they exercise their 
power freely. They do not hesitate to change or amend 
a municipal charter or to revoke one altogether; they will 
reserve to themselves or will give to the governor the ap- 



66 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, 

pointment of officers'*^liose duties are of a strictly munici- 
pal character; they will raise the salaries of city officers 
without consulting the city authorities; they will even de- 
prive a regularly elected mayor of his office and give it to 
another. The habit of State interference with Ideal 
matters is at times so strong as to threaten seriously the 
highly prized principle of local self-government. 

Municipal Home Rule. In some States the constitutions 
are attempting to protect municipal rights by giving to 
the people of the city the privilege of framing their own 
charter, just as the people of the State frame their own 
constitution. Under this policy of municipal home rule, 
the city would stand in somewhat the same relation to the 
State as the State does to the Union. The city, the State, 
and the nation would each be supreme in respect to those 
things that concern itself. 

This is an attractive reform, but it suggests serious 
difficulties. Under our present system the State, within 
the limited sphere of its action, is supreme : it jnay educate 
its youth illy; its laws may be unwise, its courts corrupt; 
and yet the federal government may not interfere. 
Shall we make the city as independent of the State as the 
State is of the federal government? We are told that the 
care of the streets, parks, sewerage, city lighting, water 
supply, the fire-extinguishment system, and many details 
connected with sanitary and police administration should 
be placed absolutely under the control of the city. But 
suppose the lighting of a city is so poor that criminals 
thrive in the darkness, or that the police department is so 
inefficient that the peace and security of the city are 
threatened — shall the State not interfere? Shall it make 
such a surrender of its rights as will prevent it from en- 
tering such a city and lighting the streets properly and 
improving the police service? Such questions as these are 
constanth^ arising in connection with municipal govern- 
ment and they indicate how difficult it is to determine pre- 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT 67 

eisely where State authority should end and local author- 
ity begin. 

It is perhaps impossible to draw a distinct line between 
State and local control ; but experience makes it plain that, 
while the State should encourage the principle of munic- 
ipal ''home rule/' it should at the same time place neces- 
sary limitations upon the power of the city. Among these 
limitations are the folowing: 

(1) The State should not surrender entirely to the city 
its control over elections, especially over those elections at 
which State officers are chosen. 

(2) The State should not make to the city such a sur- 
render of the power of taxation as to result in crippling 
the revenues of the State. 

(3) The borrowing power of the city should be care- 
fully restricted. 

(4) The State should reserve for itself the police power, 
that is, the power to pass la\^^ relative to the public health, 
the public safety, and the public morality. 

(5) The State should demand that the city maintain a 
certain standard of public education. 

In general, the State should keep such a grasp upon all 
its parts — counties, townships, and mamicipalities — as will 
prevent a part from operating against the welfare of the 
whole. 

Questions on the Text 

1. How are the powers of the State divided? Name the things 
usually done by the local government. 

2. What is the usual policy of the State in reference to the exer- 
cise of its control over the local government? 

3. Give an account of the three grades of American government. 

4. From what two sources does the locality receive its powers? 
How are counties and townships governed? 

5. What is a corporation? What are the attributes of a corpo- 
ration? What is a private corporation? What is a public corpora- 
tion? 

6. What is a municipal charter? How do legislatures usually 
act in respect to the government of municipalities? 

7. What is meant by "municipal home rule"? What difficulties 
lie in the way of municipal home rule? 



68 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

8. Give five rules for the guidance of the State in its dealing 
with cities. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. What are the provisions of the constitution of this State in ref- 
erence to local government? Can the legislature pass a special law 
for the government of a city? Have the cities of the State the right 
to frame their own charters? If not, ought they to have this right? 

2. In what way could the present constitution of this State be 
amended so as to give cities better government than they now enjoy? 

3. What is the diflference between a charter and a constitution? 

4. In a city, which of the following services should be rendered by 
the State and which by the local government? (a) the regulation of 
the sale of intoxicants; (&) the paving of the streets; (c) the regu- 
lating of the employment of children; {d) the granting of franchises 

(p. 268) to street railways; (e) the constructing of sewers; (/) the 
holding of courts of justice; (g) the educating of children; (h) the 
lighting of streets; (i) the keeping of the peace; (;') the suppres- 
sion of a riot; (k) the regulation of the use of arms; (l) the con- 
struction of waterworks; (m) the collecting of taxes; {n) the regu- 
lating of the hours of labor; (o) the operating of gas-works; (p) 
the inspecting of steam-boilers; (g) the inspecting of factories with 
the view of protecting the health of employees; (r) the maintaining 
of libraries; (s) the maintaining of parks; {t) the extinguishing 
of fires. 

5. In Ohio, California, Michigan, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, 
Oregon, Oklahoma, and Washington the plan of home rule for cities 
has been adopted. Can you name any other home rule States? 

6. Name all the kinds of local government found in this State. 

Topics for Special Work 

1. Municipal Home Rule: Howe, 76-85. 

2. National Parties in Local Elections: Jones, 327-330. 

3. Positions of the City in the State: Goodnow and Bates, 88-120. 

4. The City and the State: Howe, 66-75. 

5. Relation of Local Government to Central Government: Gettell, 

424-425; Munro, 541-545. 

6. The American City: Munro, 527-587. 



X 

PARTY GOVERNMENT 

A popular government is not a machine that is kept running by 
its own force and momentum. Elections can not be held simply by 
fixing a date for holding them. Suitable officers can not be obtained 
by merely prescribing their qualifications. Powers enumerated in a 
constitution have no meaning until they are actually brought into 
exercise. A government, whether large or small, whether federal or 
State or local, must be operated by a practical human agency work- 
ing to accomplish definite things. In the United States this agency 
is the political party; we accomplish our political purposes by means 
of party government. 

What Political Parties Are For. ''A political party," 
said Edmund Burke, ''is a body of men united for pro- 
moting by their joint endeavors the national interest upon 
some particular principle on which they are all agreed," 
Among a free people a division of the voters into parties 
is inevitable, for there are always differences of opinion 
as to how public affairs shall be managed. Shall the county 
have a new court-house ? Shall the State compel parents to 
send their ehildren to school? Shall the federal govern- 
ment own and operate the railroads? Such questions are 
bound to divide men into opposing groups. Each group 
will organize and attempt to seize the reins of government. 
For a government must act through the agency of men as 
well as through the agency of laws, and if men want to 
accomplish their political purposes, they must not only 
have the laws on their side, but they must also have the 
officers of government on their side. The surest way to 
get them on their side is to win the support of public 
opinion and persuade voters to elect officers who are favor- 
able to the proposed measures or policies. And this is 
precisely what political parties are for. Men holding the 

69 



70 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

same political views organize as a party and work together 
for the purpose of electing men who, when in office, will 
carry into effect the wishes of the party. 

Origin of Political Parties in the United States. No 

sooner was the Constitution adopted than men began to 
disagree as to the amount of power the new federal govern- 
ment was to have. The discussions that followed brought 
into collision two forces, which have never ceased to oper- 
ate in American politics. One of these forces tends to 
carry power from a lower grade of government to a higher. 
When an affair of local government is badly managed, 
there are always people to suggest that that affair be placed 
under the control of a larger and more central government. 
If the township does not manage its affairs well, they 
would take its powers from it and give them to the county ; 
if certain functions of the county are not faithfully per- 
formed, they would have them performed by the State ; 
if the State is remiss in anything, they would place that 
thing under the control of the federal government. This 
tendency to take power from the local and lodge it with 
the central government has been called the centripetal 
force of politics. 

In opposition to this centripetal, or centralizing, force 
are the people who, jealous of the powers of government, 
desire to limit them. These would lodge as little author- 
ity as possible with the central government, and reserve 
as much as possible for the locality. They would have no 
interference with the individual, except such as is neces- 
sary for the peace and safety of society. This tendency 
to restrict the power of the central government, and en- 
large that of the locality and of the individual, has been 
called the centrifugal, or decentralizing, force in iDolitics. 

The discussion of the political questions that arose when 
the Constitution was put into operation offered an excel- 
lent opportunity for the free play of the centralizing and 
the decentralizing forces. Those who believed in a strong 



PARTY GOVERNMENT 71 

central government advocated a liberal interpretation of 
the "elastic clause" (p. 51). Foremost among these was 
Alexander Hamilton. That great man thought that Con- 
gress has a right to pass laws on any subject that relates 
to the general welfare and that requires the application 
of money. It is easy to see that, under such an interpre- 
tation, many things could be done by Congress which could 
not be done under either the enumerated or the implied 
powers of the Constitution. For example, under such a 
construction, Congress would have the right to take charge 
of the public schools. Those who held centripetal notions 
respecting government railed around Hamilton and formed 
the Federalist party, or the party of hroad construction. 

The centrifugal tendencies of the time were reinforced 
by the genius of Thomas Jefferson. That statesman was 
jealous of the power of the federal government. He was 
afraid the central authority would encroach upon the 
rights of the States and of individuals. In order to pre- 
vent this, he advocated a strict construction of the Con- 
stitution. He believed that the only proper subjects for 
the action of Congress were those enumerated in the Con- 
stitution. If a new power should be desirable, he believed 
it should be secured by way of amendment and not by way 
of interpretation. Those who held the same views as 
Jefferson joined with him and organized the Democratic- 
RepuUican party, or the party of strict construction. 

The line that divided the party of Hamilton from the 
party of Jefferson may be clearly traced throughout our 
history as the dividing line of the two great parties, and 
it is the dividing line to-day. The Republican party is 
descended from the Federalists, and is the party of broad 
construction; the Democratic party comes in unbroken 
succession from the Democratic-Republican party, and is 
the party of strict construction. 

Political Parties of To-day. The line that divided the 
party of Hamilton from the party of Jefferson has never 



72 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

been wholly erased. It can be clearly traced at every 
period of our history, and even to-day it is distinguishable 
as the line of cleavage between the two parties that are 
the chief contestants for power. The Republican party is 
descended from the Federalists, and may usuall}^ be relied 
upon to construe the Constitution broadly and magnify 
the federal power. The Democratic party comes in un- 
broken succession from the Democratic-Republican party 
of Jeffersonian times. It professes adherence to the doc- 
trines of its founder, and as a rule it may be relied upon 
to place a rather strict interpretation upon the Constitu- 
tion. 

It must not be thought, however, that the Democratic 
party is alwaj^s the enemy of broad construction, or that 
its adversaries always oppose strict construction. For the 
principles of a great political party are quite elastic. In 
order to get votes a party will often cut away from its 
historic moorings. For example, in 1867 the Conservative 
party in England ignored its past and advocated an ex- 
tension of the suffrage, while the Liberal party turned 
right about face and opposed the extension of the suffrage. 
This seems to be the way of all political parties once they 
have grown powerful: for the sake of votes and victory 
they will adapt their principles to the issues of the day. 
We must not, therefore, expect to find either the Demo- 
cratic party or the Republican part}^ steering a perfectly 
straight course. Each of these parties is a mighty organi- 
zation, and the leaders of each are striving for supremacy. 
Since victory depends upon votes, it happens not infre- 
quently that the party sails are trimmed to the popular 
breeze, regardless of the teachings of the ancient political 
faith. 

The Democratic and Republican parties are the chief 
but not the only contestants for power; for, in addition to 
the two great organizations, there is usually in the political 
field oiie or more smaller parties. Of the minor groups the 
Socialist party is the largest and most important. This 



PARTY GOVERNMENT ' 73 

party was organized with the view of furthering the cause 
of Socialism (p. 230). Since 1900 it has regularly con- 
ducted a campaign for the Presidency. 

Throughout our history new or ''third parties," as they 
are often called, have been organized from time to time 
as new political issues have arisen. But to organize a 
third part}^ and carry it to complete victory is a task that 
has never been accomplished. We have had many "third 
parties," but the history of them all is the same. ''At 
the beginning, a new issue, which neither of the old parties 
has the courage to face resolutel}^, leads a certain number 
of persons to separate themselves from the organization 
with which they have previously acted and to form a new 
party. The movement originates with the people and not 
with the politicians, and the candidates nominated by the 
new part}^ are new men. As soon as the movement has 
developed enough strength to make the votes it can com- 
mand an object of envy to the weaker of the old parties, 
a period of coquetry begins. At first there is trading for 
positions on a fusion ticket by two independent parties, 
then there is a gradual drawing together of the two parties 
with nearly identical platforms [principles] and a com- 
mon ticket, and in the end a complete absorption of the 
third party by its more powerful ally. ' ' ^ When the ab- 
sorption of a new issue by an old party results in suc- 
cess, as it frequentlj^ has resulted, the people attain their 
object much more quickly than they w^ould by the tedious 
process of building a new party. 

Political Parties and the Individual. Political parties are 
voluntary associations formed outside of the pale of gov- 
ernment. They are not formally recognized as agencies 
of government, and until quite recently they have had no 
legal existence whatever. Nevertheless ours is a govern- 
ment by party: no important policy of government, 
whether federal. State, or local, can be adopted without 

1 Stanwood, "History of the Tariff," Vol, II, p. 361. 



74 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the sanction of a party, and it is seldom indeed that a 
person is elected to an important office who has not first 
received the indorsement of a party. Thus far no one 
has been able to show how popular government on a large 
scale can be conducted without the aid of parties. 

Since we must have parties and must accomplish our 
political purposes through them, the relation of the indi- 
vidual to his party presents itself as a serious problem of 
citizenship. For reasons known to himself, a man has 
been acting with a certain party : under what circumstances 
may he as a good citizen leave his party? His entrance 
into the party was a matter of choice, and he is as free to 
withdraw from it as he was to enter it. He is under no 
legal obligation to remain in his party, but is he not under 
a moral obligation to withdraw from it when his judgment 
or his conscience tells him that its course is wrong and 
that the course of another party is right? "When party 
loyalty leads a man into voting for dangerous measures 
and dishonest candidates, he is not a free citizen, but is the 
victim of a despotism. Party loyalty is a good thing, but 
loyalty to the interests of one's country is an infinitely 
better thing; and when a man is convinced that his party 
is pursuing an unpatriotic course he should break away 
from it, despite the cracking of the party lash. 

Questions on the Text 

1. For what purpose are political parties organized? 

2. Describe the centrifugal and centripetal forces of politics. 

3. What were the political views of Alexander Hamilton? of 
Thomas Jefferson? 

4. What two parties are the chief contestants for power? What 
can you say of the elasticity of party principles? 

5. Name the most important of the minor parties. How are new 
issues absorbed by the great parties? 

6. In what relation does the political party stand to government? 

7. In what relation does the individual stand to his party? 
When should this relation be severed? 



PARTY GOVERNMENT 75 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. State whether a Democrat who was guided solely by the tradi- 
tions and principles of his party would favor or oppose: (a) the con- 
trol of railroads by the federal government; (&) the issue of money 
by State banks; (c) the management of elections by the federal gov- 
ernment; {d) the control of telegraph lines by the State govern- 
ment; (e) the planting of colonies by the federal government; (/) 
the support of the public schools by the federal government; (g) the 
ownership of mines by the State government; {h) the control of 
cities by the federal government; (i) the cooperation of the federal 
government with local government in road-building. 

2. What influences besides party principles lead one to vote for 
this or that party? 

3. Give reasons why it is best that the party in power should 
have opposition even though its principles are right. 

4. Compare the last national Democratic platform with the last 
national Republican platform, and point out the chief difference in 
the principles of the two parties. 

5. How many people voted for the Democratic party in the last 
presidential election? How many for the Republican party? If the 
Republican vote for that year should be represented by a line one 
yard in length, how long would be the line that should represent the 
Democratic vote? How long the line representing the Socialist vote? 

6. Name a few of the great politicians who have figured in the 
history of this country. Who are the great politicians of the pres- 
ent time? 

7. What is a statesman? a partizan? a trimmer? a mugwump? an 
independent? a henchman? 

8. Distinguish between a "boss" and a leader. 

9. Define faction, cabal, junto, "ring," clique. 

10. Under what circumstances is a man justified in deserting his 
party ? 

11. Give an account of the organization and purposes of the Non- 
Partizan League. What does the word non-partizan mean? the word 
ti-partizan ? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Political Party: Holcombe, 165-202. 

2. The Necessities of Strong Parties in the United States: Jones, 

20-27. 

3. Party Government in England and the United States Con- 

trasted: Jones, 1-11. 

4. Functions of Political Parties : Gettell, 401-404. 

5. Political Parties: Munro, 312-329. 

6. Origin of Parties in the United States: Beard, 103-108. 



XI 

CIVIL LIBEETY 

We have now given an account of the several devices by which our 
political system is operated, and have described the nature of the* 
power that has been assigned to each of the three grades of govern- 
ment. For what purposes have these ingenious devices been in- 
vented? Why have these nice adjustments of power been made? 
In order that we may be secure in our civil liberty. In a free coun" 
try this is a question in which every citizen should be deeply con- 
cerned, for liberty is one of the greatest things in the world. 

Civil Liberty Defined. Civil liberty is the liberty that a 
man enjoys in civil society; it is liberty under law. The 
desire for freedom is implanted in every human breast. 
History is largely an account of man's struggle for free- 
dom, and the greatest lesson that history has for us teaches 
that man ought to be free. But there must be limits to 
his freedom. Where there is government there must be 
restraints upon the will and upon the desires. The only 
liberty that is possible in society is civil liberty, which has 
been defined as natural liberty so far restrained (and so 
far only) as is necessary and expedient for public good. 
The restraints regarded as necessary and expedient for 
the public good are not the same in all countries. Civil 
liberty, therefore, is not everywhere the same : in Germany 
it is one thing; in France it is another thing; and in the 
United States it is still another thing. 

Growth of American Civil Liberty. The rights of our 
citizenship seem to come to us, like the air and the sun- 
shine, as a matter of course; but it seemed otherwise to 
those ancestors of ours who secured these rights. To them 
civil liberty came as the result of hard-fought battles. 
When we read the bill of rights in one of our constitutions, 

76 



CIVIL LIBERTY 77 

where our liberties are itemized, our hearts would throb 
with gratitude did we know the suffering and the sacrifice 
that each item has cost. The history of American liberty 
can not be given here in full, but we must find room for 
its outlines: 

I. The Great Charter. The story of our civil liberty 
may conveniently begin with an account of the Great 
Charter. King John of England had been acting in a 
tyrannical and unpatriotic way, and the leading men of 
England, in order to protect themselves from his cruelty 
and oppression, met (121.5 a. d.) at Runn^auede, near Lon- 
don, and declared the rights of Englishmen in a formal 
document which they compelled the King to sign. This 
document was the famous Magna Carta. "One copy of 
it," says Green, "still remains in the British Museum, in- 
jured by age and fire, but with the royal seal still hanging 
from the brown shriveled parchment. It is impossible to 
gaze without reverence on the earliest monument of English 
freedom, which w^e can see with our own eyes and touch 
with our hands — the Great Charter, to which, from age to 
age, patriots have looked back as the basis of English 
liberty. ' ' 

Since the Great Charter is the basis of English liberty, 
it is the basis also of American liberty. It consists of a 
preamble and sixty-three clauses. The clauses of lasting 
interest are the following : 

(1) "Common Pleas shall not follow the king's court, 
but shall be held in some certain place." (John had been 
dragging suitors for justice about from post to pillar, caus- 
ing them great inconvenience and expense.) 

(2) "A freeman shall be fined for a small offense after 
the manner of the offense ; for a great crime after the hein- 
ousness of it." (Making the punishment suit the crime.) 

(3) "No scutage [land tax] or aid [contribution] shall 
be imposed except by the common council of the nation." 
(No taxation without representation.) 

(4) "No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or dis- 



78 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

seized, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way destroyed ; nor 
will we go upon him, nor will we send upon him, unless by 
the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the 
land." (Due process of law and trial by jury.) 

(5) ^'To none will we sell, to none will we deny or de- 
lay right or justice." (Habeas corpus.) 

(6) "The cit.y of London shall have all its ancient liber- 
ties and free customs, and so of all other cities, boroughs, 
towns, and ports." (Local self-government.) 

Swift and impartial justice, punishment according to the 
offense committed, taxation according to the wishes of rep- 
resentatives of the people, trial by jury, habeas corpus, 
local self-government — these are the grand features of the 
Great Charter. "To have produced it, to have matured 
it, to have preserved it, constitute the immortal claim of 
England upon the esteem of mankind. Her Bacons and 
Shakespeares, her Miltons and Newtons, with all the truth 
which they have inspired, are of inferior value when com- 
pared with the subjection of men and of their rulers to the 
principles of justice, if indeed it be not more true that 
these mighty spirits could not have been formed except 
under equal laws, nor roused to full activity without the 
influence of that spirit which the Great Charter breathed 
over our forefathers."^ 

11. The Petition of Right. It is easy to declare human 
rights, but it is difficult to defend and preserve them. 
John's successors confirmed the Great Charter whenever 
they were compelled to do so, but they violated its pro- 
visions whenever they dared. During the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries the aggressions of royalty threatened 
to make Magna Carta a dead letter ; but in the seventeenth 
century the spirit of English liberty revived. When the 
Stuarts began to trample under foot the most precious 
rights of Englishmen, the people revolted. A long and 
bloody conflict followed. One king lost his life, another 
his crown, and thousands of citizens fell in civil strife. 

1 Mackintosh, "History of England," V^ol. I, 222. 



CIVIL LIBERTY 79 

Out of the contests there were evolved two liberty docu- 
ments of the highest importance. The first of these is 
the Petition of Bight, which Parliament sent to Charles I 
in 1628 and compelled him to sign. This famous constitu- 
tional law— for it, like the Great Charter, must be re- 
garded as part of England's constitution — recites the 
rights of the people, and protests against the wanton in- 
fringements which were being made by the King. Among 
the misdeeds of the King were the quartering of troops in 
the homes of private citizens. The petition prays: ''That 
your majesty will be pleased to remove said soldiers and 
mariners, and that your people may not be so burdened 
in time to come." Another complaint refers to the prac- 
tice of putting citizens to death after a trial conducted by 
the soldiery. The petition pra^^s: ''That commissions by 
martial law be revoked and annulled." The Petition of 
Eight, therefore, declared anew formally the ancient rights 
of Englishmen, and also enriched their civil liberty in two 
particulars : first, it forbade the quartering of troops upon 
private citizens; and, second, it put an end to the trial of 
private citizens by military courts. 

III. The Bill of Rights. No sooner had the Cromwell- 
ian power been overthrown and the old monarchy restored 
Under Charles II than the perversity of the Stuart house 
renewed itself. James II attempted to establish a perma- 
nent despotism, but he was driven from his throne before his 
purpose was accomplished. AVhen his successor, William 
III, was invited to be king, Parliament, as an act of pre- 
caution, declared (1689) the conditions upon which the 
crown was to be held. This declaration, known as the Bill 
of Rights, was the second liberty document produced by 
the conflict between the Stuarts and the people, a document 
that has been called "the third great charter of English 
liberty, and the coping-stone of the constitutional build- 
ing." The most important of its declarations are the 
following : 

(1) That laws shall not be suspended or repealed, and 



4^ 

80 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY /-s 






that taxes shall not be levied, without consent of Parlia- 
ment. 

(2) That the right of petition shall not be denied. 

(3) That a standing army shall not be kept in time of 
peace. 

(4) That subjects shall not be deprived of the right of 
carrying arms. 

(5) That freedom of speech and debate in Parliament 
shall not be impeached or questioned in any place out of 
Parliament. 

(6) That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor ex- 
cessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments 
inflicted. 

(7) That Parliament ought to assemble frequently. 
IV. The Declaration of Independence. The rights won 

in England accrued, of course, to the English colonists in 
America. When the time for independence arrived, the 
Americans had several important items to add to the list 
of human rights. These they announced in the Declaration 
of Independence. They declared: 

(1) That all men are equal. 

(2) That governments derive their just powers from the 
consent of the governed. 

(3) That for good reasons the people may abolish the old 
form of government and institute a new form. 

In these three propositions are wrapped up the whole 
doctrine of dem@cracy. In them we see equality before the 
law, universal suffrage, democratic government, and consti- 
tutional conventions. When we consider the world-wide 
influence of these three declarations we must regard them 
as the greatest enlargement of civil liberty recorded in the 
history of politics. 

Y. State Constitutions. When the people of the revolt- 
ing colonies were ready to begin government on their own 
account, the Great Charter, the Petition of Right, the Bill 
of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence served as 
texts for a new and complete declaration of American civil 



CIVIL LIBERTY 



81 




82 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

liberty. This declaration was made in tlie State constitu- 
tion of the newly formed States. If you will examine the 
bill of rights in any State constitution — ^the newer States 
have fashioned their constitutions after those of the older 
States — you will find that it declares the rights affirmed in 
the three great English liberty documents and in the Dec- 
laration of Independence. If it does more than this it 
simply adds several additional rights that have been evolved 
from American experience. 

VI. The Federal Constitution. We have seen that the 
first ten amendments were hurriedl^^ added to the Consti- 
tution as a check upon the power of the federal government. 
The first eight of these amendments bear a strong resem- 
blcince to the bill of rights of a State constitution, and are 
regarded as the bill of rights of the federal Constitution. 
It ought to be clearly understood, however, that the rights 
declared in these amendments do not belong to the Amer- 
ican citizen unless they are also declared in the constitution 
of the State in which the citizen lives. The federal govern- 
ment cannot deprive a citizen of any of these rights, but 
the State can. For example. Congress cannot abridge the 
freedom of speech, but a State legislature can do so if the 
State constitution does not forbid. The federal government 
can not guarantee the rights that the Constitution forbids 
it to infringe. It is to the State constitution that we must 
look for most of the positive guaranties of our civil liberty. 

Constitutional Liberty and Its Preservation. Thus it is 
seen that civil liberty in America means constitutional lib- 
erty. In the constitutions we find set down in black and 
white precisely the rights we are to enjoy. The constitu- 
tions, however, do not create civil liberty. Liberty is not 
am artificial creation of a convention. It is a divine gift 
bestowed onl}^ upon those who make themselves worthy of 
it by being true to the nobler impulses and longings of 
their nature. All the constitution can do is to give liberty 
a voice. It states in plain words the rights that the people 



CIVIL LIBERTY 83 

claim. When rulers are tempted to act tyrannically, the 
solemn prohibitions of the constitution bid them pause; 
when the majority is tempted to ignore the rights of the 
minority or of the individual, the words of the constitution 
stare it in the face. If people or rulers violate the bill of 
rights, then the constitution is a mockery and civil liberty 
does not exist. 

Constitutions do not create rights, nor do they preserve 
them. We have seen that American civil liberty is the 
fruitage of many centuries of costly and patriotic en- 
deavor. As it has been acquired, so will it be maintained. 
The preservation of human rights will always depend upon 
the watchfulness and zeal of those who love freedom. If 
we do not love freedom well enough to fight for it, if we 
prefer the quietude .of despotism to the boisterousness of 
liberty, we may be sure that the lovers of power will sooner 
or later fasten a despotism upoin us. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Define civil liberty. 

2. What is the Great Charter? What are its important pro- 
visions? 

3. What is the Petition of Right? Name its most important pro- 
visions. 

4. What is the Bill of Rights? Name its most important decla- 
rations. 

5. What great principles of democracy are declared in the Decla- 
ration of Independence? 

6. Of what is the bill of rights in the State constitution com- 
posed? 

7. What is the origin of the bill of rights of the federal Consti- 
tution? How does this differ from the bill of rights of a State 
constitution ? 

8. Explain the statement that civil liberty is constitutional 
liberty. 

9. How may constitutional liberty be preserved? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Prepare a bill of rights for a State constitution, using Magna 
Carta, the Petition of Right, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration 
of Independence as a basis, and after it is prepared compare it with 
the bill of rights of your State constitution, and with the first eight 
amendments of the federal Constitution. 



84 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

2. Bring into the class for inspection a facsimile of Magna Carta. 

3. Prepare a five-minute paper on "The Reign of John." Green's 
"Short History," pp. 147-156. " 

4. Prepare a five-minute paper on "Charles First and the Petition 
of Right." Green, pp. 485-495. 

5. In what respects are men equal? 

6. What great names are connected with the caus6 of American 
liberty ? 

Topics foe Special Work 

1. The Principles of the Fathers: Woodburn, 1-45. 

2. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Dole, 78-87. 

3. Meaning of Civil Liberty: Gettell, 160-161. 

4. Civil Liberty in the United States: Getteil, 163-165. 

5. Liberty and Authority: Gettell, 161-163. 



XII 
CIVIL RIGHTS AND DUTIES 

In the preceding chapter we learned how we came into our heritage 
of civil liberty. In this chapter we shall learn what the particular 
rights of American civil liberty are, from what source these rights 
flow, what persons are entitled to enjoy them, and what duties must 
be performed as the price of enjoying them. 

Civil Eights and Political Rights. The rights flowing 
from American civil liberty may be divided into two 
classes: political rights and civil rights. Political rights 
are those belonging to a citi-zen regarded as a participator 
in public affairs, or as a member of the electorate (p. 10)). 
Civil rights are those that a person enjoys as a private 
citizen, as an individual. Civil rights, however, are not 
enjoyed by all citizens alike, for citizenship does not carry 
with it the whole body of civil liberty. For example, little 
children and incapables are citizens, yet they do not have 
all the civil rights. 

Who Are Citizens? Who are the persons entitled to the 
blessings of civil liberty? Who are American citizens? 
This question was left in doubt by the Constitution until 
the adoption of the fourteenth amendment in 1868. That 
amendment declares (150) that ''all persons born or 
naturalized in the United States and subject to the juris- 
diction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the 
State ^yherein they reside." Under this definition the 
following have been adjudged to be citizens of the United 
States : 

(1) All persons born in the United States, excepting the 
children of diplomatic agents and of hostile aliens. 

85 



86 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

(2) Children born in foreign countries whose parents 
at the time of their birth were citizens of the United 
States. 

(3) Women of foreign birth m_arried to citizens of the 
United States. 

(4) Indians who pay taxes and no longer live in tribal 
relations. 

(5) Naturalized persons. 

Persons who do not belong to any of the above classes 
are aliens {alieni, foreigners). Aliens may become citizens 
by complying with the regulations prescribed by Congress 
for naturalization (48), the process by which foreigners 
lose citizenship in one country and acquire it in another. 
(See page 326.) 

Civil Rights of State Citizenship. The American citizen 
finds that his rights flow from two sources: from the State 
and from the nation. Since each State in a large measure 
determines for itself the character of the civil liberty that 
is to be enjoyed within its borders, the rights of an Amer- 
ican citizen are not ever^^where the same. As we travel 
through the States our rights change every time we pass 
from one State into another. When the citizen of one 
State enters another State he has the rights of the citizens 
of that State (116), and those rights only. There are, 
however, certain civil rights that are enjoyed in every State 
in the Union and that may be called the civil rights of 
State citizenship. These are the rights guaranteed in the 
State constitutions. In the constitution of almost every 
State it is declared: 

(1) That all men have the right of enjoying and de- 
fending life and liberty; of acquiring, possessing, and pro- 
tecting property and reputation; and of pursuing their 
own happiness. 

(2) That men have a right to worship God according to 
the dictates of their own conscience, and that no prefer- 
ence by law should be given to any religion, and that no 



CIVIL RIGHTS AND DUTIES 87 

person should be disqualified for office on account of his 
religious belief. 

(3) That trial by jury is a right inviolate. 

(4) That the printing-press shall be free, and that every 
citizen may freely print, write, and speak on any subject, 
being responsible for the abuse of this privilege. 

(5) That people shall be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and possessions against unreasonable searches and 
seizures, and that no warrant to search any place or seize 
any person shall issue without probable cause. 

(6) That in all criminal prosecutions the accused has a 
right to be heard by himself and his counsel, to meet wit- 
nesses face to face, to compel witnesses who are in his favor 
to come to court and testify, and to a speedy trial bj^ an 
impartial jury. 

(7) That no person can be compelled to give evidence 
against himself, nor be deprived of his life, liberty, or 
property, unless by the law of the land. 

(8) That no person for the same offense shall be twice 
put in jeopardy of life and limb. 

(9) That all courts shall be open, and that every man 
shall have justice without sale, denial, or delay. 

(10) That excessive bail shall not be required, nor ex- 
cessive fines be imposed, nor cruel punishment inflicted. 

(11) That all prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient 
sureties, unless for capital offenses. 

(12) That the w^rit of habeas corpus (p. 242) shall not be 
suspended unless in time of rebellion or invasion. 

(13) That there shall be no imprisonment for debt, un- 
less in cases of fraud. 

(14) That citizens have a right to assemble in a peace- 
able manner and to apply to the rulers for a redress of 
grievances. 

(15) That the military shall at all times be kept in strict 
subordination to the civil power. 

(16) That no soldier in time of peace be quartered in 
anv house without consent of the owner. 



• 



88 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Civil Rights of Federal Citizenship. The first section of 
the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution (150) 
creates a distinct federal citizenship, and provides that no 
State shall abridge the privileges of that citizenship. 
What are the privileges that a citizen of the United States 
enjoys and that no State can abridge? This question has 
been constantly asked in the federal Supreme Court since 
the adoption of the fourteenth amendment. The court 
will not undertake to enumerate all the rights arising under 
the amendment, but it has been declaring them from time 
to time as cases have been brought before it. Human 
rights are acquired slowly, and it may be many years be- 
fore we shall know the full effect of the fourteenth amend- 
ment. At present it is possible to enumerate the following 
as the rights of federal citizenship : rights that flow from 
the Constitution, that belong to every citizen of the United 
States, and that can not be denied by State authority : 

I. Due Process of Latv, No person in the United States 
shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due 
process of law. Here is a right that no State can abridge 
(151) and that the federal government itself cannot deny 
(152). (See page 241.) 

II. Equal Protection of the Laws. *' Every person 
within the jurisdiction of any State, whether he be rich or 
poor, humble or haughty, citizen or alien, is assured of the 
protection of equal laws (152) — applicable to all alike and 
impartially administered without favor or discrimination. ' ' 
{Guthrie.) (See page 243.) 

III. Protection on the High Seas and in Foreign Coun- 
tries. A citizen of the United States, in whatever part of 
the world he may be, is entitled to protection against in- 
justice or injury, and this protection is a right of federal 
citizenship, and is extended by the federal government. 

TV. State Citizenship. Every citizen of the United 
States has a right to become a citizen of a State by a bona 
fide residence therein. 

The above rights have been declared by the federal 



CIVIL RIGHTS AND DUTIES 89 

Supreme Court to belong to every person who is a citizen 
of the United States. Add to these rights of federal citizen- 
ship the rights enumerated as belonging to State citizen- 
ship, and you have a list of the most important civil rights 
of the American citizen. 

Duties of Citizenship. The duties of citizenship are al- 
ways* equal to its rights. If I can hold a man to his con- 
tracts, I ought (7 owe it) to pay my own debts; if I may 
worship as I please, I ought to refrain from persecuting 
another on account of his religion ; if my own property 
is held sacred, I ought to regard the property of another 
man as sacred; if the government deals fairly with me 
and does not oppress me, I ought to deal fairly with it 
and refuse to cheat it; if I am allowed freedom of speech, 
I ought not to abuse the privilege; if I have a right to 
be tried by a jury, I ought to respond when I am sum- 
moned to serve as a juror; if I have a right to my good 
name and reputation, I ought not to slander my neighbor; 
if government shields me from injury, I ought to be ready 
to take up arais in its defense. 

Civil righj^-^a^^a inse parable fn mi civil duties; the con- 
tinued and full enjoyment of the ior|^r depends upon 
the fulfilment of the latter> Oini!e"triity is largely a mat- 
ter of morals, good citizenship also would seem to be a 
question of morals. In the last analysis this is true. After 
all is said, good citizenship is reached only by the rough 
path of duty, and men will tread this path not because a 
legislature commands them, but because conscience leads 
them on. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is meant by civil rights? political rights? 

2. What classes of people are citizens of the United States? 

3. Explain how the rights of citizenship may differ in the differ- 
ent States. 

4. Enumerate the civil rights guaranteed by the State. 

5. What effect did the adoption of the fourteenth amendment 
have upon the character of citizenship in the United States? 



* 



90 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

6. Enumerate and describe the rights that grow out of federal 
citizenship. 

7. What is the relation of civic right to civic duty? Name some 
of our civic duties. 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

1. Examine the Constitution for answers to these questions: 
(1) Can a person be compelled in a federal court to be a witness 
against himself (138)? (2) Wliat are the rights of an accused 
person in a federal court (139) ? (3) What is the rule in federal 
courts in reference to witnesses (140)? (4) What is the rule in 
reference to trial by jury (141) ? (5) in reference to bail (142) ? 

2. Under the fourteenth amendment wlrnt are the rights of an 
alien? Enumerate your individual rights as these are declared in 
the constitution of your State. 

3. Political philosophers frequently speak of natural rights. 
What is the root meaning of the word natural? Name the rights 
that you would be inclined to class as natural. 

4. What is meant by the "inalienable rights" mentioned in the 
Declaration of Independence ? 

5. Joined with every right there is a duty. Name the duty that 
belongs to each of the rights of American citizenship. 

6. Discover, if you can, a social or civil right to which there is 
not a duty attached. 

7. Has a student a right to study so hard that his health is in- 
jured thereby? 

8. Do you as minors enjoy all the civil rights? Name those of^ 
which you are deprived. 

9. What does the constitution of this State say about aliens? 

Topics foe Special Woek 

1. The Rights of Citizenship and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth 

Amendments: Kaye, 100-105. 

2. Who are Citizens? Munro, 71-77; Beard, 160-163. 

3. Acquirement and Loss of Citizenship in the United States: 

Gettell, 308-309. 



^M^ 



XIII 

A REVIEW 

The Characteristic Features of American Government, 

The essentials of our political system have now been pre- 
sented. If we will review the previous chapters and ana- 
lyze their contents, we shall find that the characteristic 
features of the American government may be indicated in 
the following propositions : 

I. It is democratic. It is of the people, and by them, 
and for them. In small matters and in great matters the 
wishes of the people are consulted and their will obeyed. 

II. It is representative. In but few instances do we 
find the people governing as a pure democracy. They are 
content that the actual business of government shall be 
conducted by chosen officers. 

III. Its powers are sharply separated and nicely bal- 
anced. The law-maker has his peculiar duties, and so has 
the executive and the judge. Each department acts inde- 
pendently of the others. One department may check an- 
other, but it may not control another or usurp its powers. 

IV. It is constitutional. Public business is conducted 
and laws are enacted according to the plain provisions of 
a formal instrument. Officers of government swear to sup- 
port the Constitution (128), and the people are under a 
solemn obligation not to violate it. 

V. It is federal. Everywhere a central power admin- 
isters the great affairs that pertain to the national wel- 
fare, while other affairs are left to be administered by the 
authority of the State. The federal relation is firmly es- 
tablished and clearly defined: the State and the federal 

91 



92 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. 

government working together give us a Union that can 
not be dissolved, and a State that can not be destroyed. 

VI. It is expansive. It is always extending the area 
of its influence. A community under the protection and 
authority of the Union is usually admitted as a State (118) 
soon after it is prepared to govern itself in the American way. 

VII. It is decentralized as to local affairs. All power 
does not radiate from a central source. Large authority 
resides in the State as well as in the Union, and local self- 
government lodges power in places still further removed 
from the center. 

VIII. It is conducted dy political parties. The popular 
will is ascertained by the efforts of political organizations, 
and the organization that gets the most votes is deemed the 
rightful possessor of political power. 

IX. It yields a full measure of civil liberty . The 
American people are the political heirs of all the ages. 
Collectively they are provided with every means of resist- 
ing tyranny and injustice, while the individual citizen en- 
joys all the civil and political rights that can be enjoyed 
consistently with the safety and welfare of society. 

X. It rests upon the performance of individual duty. 
The more we study the American government the plainer 
this truth appears. We learned at the outset that the 
success of democracy depends upon the conduct of indi- 
viduals, and in the examination of the various political 
contrivances by which our government is operated we 
have discovered no device for relieving the individual of a 
personal performance of political duty. 

The American Spirit. Some one has said that in every 
high school and college there should be a ''professor of 
America." There is just a little boastfulness in the utter- 
ance, yet it nevertheless contains a sane suggestion. One 
of the chief tasks of this "professor of America" would 
be to train his pupils to distinguish between that which is 
American and that which is un-American. It should be 



A REVIEW 93 

confessed that as far as political matters are copcerned 
such a training would be useful. It is good to be able 
to stamp instantly and unerringly a political act or move- 
ment or sentiment as American or as un-American. 

The student ought at this point to be able to tell what 
is truly American and what is not. It is American to trust 
the people, to have implicit faith in their ability to govern 
themselves; it is un-American to be always carping at 
democracy and predicting its downfall. It is American to 
recognize the moral and legal equality of men and to 
cherish the feelings of universal brotherhood; it is un- 
American to foster the spirit of aristocracy or of class 
hatred. It is American to give power abundantly to 
leaders who have been elected at the polls, for such leaders 
are real representatives; it is un-American to submit 
tamely to the rule of a self-appointed "boss." To en- 
courage and sustain a department of government when it 
is contending for its rights is American ; to aid in increas- 
ing the power of a usurping department is not. To accom- 
plish a political purpose by altering the Constitution in a 
formal, deliberate manner is American; to act in wanton 
disregard of constitutional restraint is not. It is Ameri- 
can to exalt the Union, but it is un-American to belittle the 
State. It is American for the State authority to uphold 
and maintain justice and law and order, but is ifn- Ameri- 
can to give to the State government the management of 
affairs that are purely local. It is American to use the 
political party as a means of government, but to regard 
party as the end of government is un-American. To en- 
joy every right that belongs to a free and enlightened peo- 
ple is American, but it is un-American to insist upon a 
liberty that runs into license and riot. 

By adhering to the American way we shall preserve the 
spirit of the American government, and the spirit of a 
government is as important as its form. "The letter 
killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Indeed, the form of 
the American government is only an outgrowth of the 



94 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

spirit that animated its founders. The American fathers 
loved liberty and believed the people should have a con- 
trolling hand in government, and they drew the Consti- 
tution in trend with their affections and beliefs. The 
spirit of the fathers became the spirit of the generations 
that followed, and is the American spirit to-day. The form 
of our government indeed may change, but as for its spirit 
our wish for that is the same as our wish for the nation it- 
self — estoperpetua. 

An Exercise 

Classify the following as Airerican or un-American, testing each 
classification by some fundamental principle: (a) The people of a 
State choose as their governor a man who does not reside in the 
State; (6) a town with a population of 500 has as many representa- 
tives as a city with a population of 100,000; (c) a man seeks a title 
of nobility; {d) a pupil seeks a medal awarded for scholarship; 
(e) the State government controls the police force of a city; (/) the 
State government controls the public schools of a city; {g) the local 
government constructs roads; (h) the federal government constructs 
roads; ii) the State government constructs roads; {j) a man always 
votes with his party; (k) a man never votes at all; (Z) the legis- 
lature raises the salary of public employees; (m) the executive 
raises the salary of public employees; («) a man contends that de- 
mocracy is the worst form of government; (o) a man is punished 
for contending that democracy is the worst form of government; 
ip) a man was arrested for teaching the doctrine of Buddha; {q) a 
legislator would not receive a request to enact a certain law; 
(r) there was held a mass meeting at which the representatives of 
the people were requested to enact a certain law; (s) there was held 
a mass . meeting at which the representatives were commanded to 
enact a certain law; {t) the legislature of a State passed a resolu- 
tion denouncing the action of a foreign government; (u) a law pro- 
vides that the governor shall appoint the county commissioners; 
{v) a law provides that the governor shall appoint the county 
judges; {w) the federal government informed the drivers of its 
mail-carts that they might drive at a speed greater than that per- 
mitted by the local authorities; (a?) a State made forty years the 
age qualification for voting; (y) a State made seventeen years the 
age qualification for voting; (z) a law forbids adults to be on the 
street after midnight; (aa) a law forbids children under twelve 
years of age to be on the streets after 10 p. M.; (6&) a law forbids a 
group of men to organize as a political party. 



PART II 

OEGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN 
GOVERNMENT 

The Form 



XIV 

THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS 

Introductory. In Part I we found the following to be 
the characteristic features of the American government: 
(1) it is democratic; (2) it is representative; (3) its 
powers are sharply separated and nicely balanced ; (4) it 
is constitutional; (5) it is federal; (6) it is decentralized as 
to local affairs; (7) it is conducted by political parties; 
(8) it guarantees to citizens a rich inheritance of civil 
liberty. These are the foundation-stones of the American 
Republic. 

Having learned the broad fundamental principles of our 
government, we may now pass to the subject of its organiza- 
tion. In Part II we shall study the organization of (1) 
the federal government; (2) the State government; (3) the 
local government; and (4) political parties. 

The organization of the federal government is deter- 
mined by the Constitution, Article I providing for the 
legislature, Article II for the executive, and Article III 
for the judiciary. We can learn in these articles of the 
qualifications of the principal federal functionaries,, of the 
length of their terms of service, of the manner of their 
appointment or election, of their duties and privileges. 
Many of the facts of federal organization are stated in the 
Constitution so clearly and fully as to make it unnecessary 
to refer to them in the text. No important facts, however, 
ought to be neglected by the student, and he will neglect 
none if, in addition to answering the questions on the text, 
he will also answer those questions at the end of the chap- 
ters where reference is made to the Constitution, 

97 



98 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Eepresentation in Congress. At the time when the Con- 
stitution was framed many novel theories of government 
were in circulation, but fortunately the men of the Con- 
vention avoided ideal schemes. As practical statesmen 
they knew that if their work was to be successful they 
must plan for a central government that should resemble 
as nearly as possible the government to which the people 
were already accustomed. Accordingly, it was early de- 
termined by the Convention to take the existing State gov- 
ernment, witli its three departments, as a pattern for the 
federal structure. Having determined upon this, the next 
problem was to provide for a legislature. Since in all of 
the States but two (Georgia and Pennsylvania) the legis- 
latures were bicameral, and since a bicameral legislature 
is a characteristic institution of English-speaking peoples, 
the sentiment for a Congress of two houses easily carried 
the day (2). Then arose the question: How should the 
States be represented in Congress? Should they be repre- 
sented as they had been under the Confederation — one State, 
one vote? should they be represented according to wealth? 
should they be represented according to population? 
These questions gave the Convention a deal of trouble. 

Some of the members wanted representation according 
to wealth ; but the democratic spirit in the convention was 
too strong for them. Virginia and several large States 
wanted representation according to population, while New 
Jersey and several small States contended that each State 
ought to have equal representation in Congress. Here was 
a struggle between the large States and the small States, or, 
regarded from another standpoint, a struggle between the 
national principle and the federal principle. The national, 
or large-State, party insisted that the United States was a 
nation, one homogeneous political society consisting of thir- 
teen sections or geographical districts called States, and 
that each of these States ought to be represented in the 
federal Congress according to its population. According 
to this view, the new government was to be national, and 




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100 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

if the national principle had fully prevailed a government 
resembling the centralized type (p. 59) would have been 
established. The small-State party contended that the 
United States ivere thirteen different political societies, 
each the judge of its own political competency, each the 
political equal of another ; and that, since the new govern- 
ment was to be a union of equals, each State should be 
equally represented in the legislature. The supporters of 
this idea desired the new government to be strictly federal 
and decentralized. 

The debate upon the Virginia plan and the New Jersey 
plan continued without the prospect of a satisfactory con- 
clusion until Connecticut came forv^^ard with this propo- 
sition: Let each State, regardless of its population, be 
represented in the Senate by two senators (15) ; in the 
House let each State be represented according to its popu- 
lation (7). The aged Franklin supported this com- 
promise. ''When a broad table is to be made," he said 
in his homely wisdom, ''and the edges of the planks do not 
fit, the artist takes a little from both and makes a good 
joint." The Connecticut plan prevailed, and a Congress 
was established that was partly federal and partly national. 

In the Senate the federal principle prevails, but not 
fully, for the two senators are not required to vote to- 
gether and cast a single vote, as they would be required to 
do under a purely federal plan. Nevertheless, it is in 
the Senate that we must look for the federal element of 
our system, for there a State as a State is strong. The 
twenty-five smallest States, with their five million voters, 
can wield more power in the Senate than the twenty-three 
largest States, with their twenty million voters. In a 
federal republic there is nothing unjust in this. The decen- 
tralized features of our system can not be maintained 
unless we keep the States equal in the Senate. 

In the House of Representatives the national principle 
prevails ; for representatives do not appear as representing 



THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS 101 

States, but as representing people. But the House is not 
national in every respect, for in the event that it is re- 
quired to take part in the election of a President (84) it 
votes by States, the representation of each State having 
one vote — a recognition of the federal principle. More- 
over, a State must have at least one representative (10), 
a condition that is not required under a purely national sys- 
tem. Upon the whole, however, the House is national; its 
435 members represent, not forty-eight States, but one 
hundred millions of people. 

Apportionment of Representatives. When it was pro- 
posed to give to each State a number of representatives 
proportional to its population, the question of enumera- 
tion arose: Should every human being count one? In the 
Northern States there were but few slaves; in some of the 
Southern States there were vast numbers of them. The 
Northern States were unwilling to be outnumbered by hav- 
ing the slaves counted; the Southern States wished them 
to be counted. It was agreed that five slaves should be 
counted as three persons (8), a rule that was changed by 
the fourteenth amendment, which provides that In the ap- 
portionment of representatives to Congress all people ex- 
cept untaxed Indians shall be counted (153). The number 
of representatives that each State was to have until a census 
could be taken was fixed by the Constitution (11). After 
the first census was taken the apportionment was to be 
regulated by Congress in accordance with the results of 
the census. 

At the establishment of the government one represen- 
tative was allowed for every thirty thousand inhabitants, 
but with the increase of population it was found neces- 
sary to increase the ratio of representation. This was done 
to prevent the House from becoming unwieldy by reason 
of numbers. If the original ratio had been retained the 
House of Representatives would now consist of 3,500 mem- 



102 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

bers — a body entirely too large for deliberate action. The 
present ratio of representation (211j877) gives a House of 
435 members. 

Election of Eepresentatives. Any one who is qualified to 
vote for members of the more numerous branch of the 
State legislature is qualified to vote for a Representative in 
Congress (4). The members of the House are elected by 
a direct vote of the people. For more than half a cen- 
tury the States were allowed to elect their Representatives 
in their own way; but in 1842 Congress, exercising its 
power (24), ordered that when a State was entitled to 
more than one Representative, the Representatives should 
be elected by districts composed of contiguous territory; 
that the number of these Congressional districts should be 
equal to the number of Representatives apportioned to the 
State; that no district should be entitled to more than one 
Representative. The division of a State into Congressional 
districts is left with its legislature. The districts may 
conform to such boundaries as the legislature may decide 
upon, but they must contain as nearly as possible the same 
population. Sometimes the dominant party in the legisla- 
ture ''gerrymanders" the districts — that is, marks them out 
in a way that is grossly unfair to the minority party. A 
Representative need not reside in the district he represents, 
but public opinion is strongly in favor of residence within 
the district. It sometimes happens that a State, after re- 
ceiving an increase in the number of its representatives, 
fails to be re-districted promptly. Until such time as it 
is re-districted the additional members (or member) are 
elected by the voters of the whole State on a general ticket, 
and are called " Congressmen-at-large. " 

Election of Senators. For considerably more than a cen- 
tury members of the Senate were elected by the legisla- 
tures of the several States (15). But a long experience 
showed that the system did not work well. The position of 
United States Senator being highly prized as an honor, the 



THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS 103 

struggle for it became so keen as seriouslj^ to demoralize the 
legislature and interfere with the regular business. Some- 
times, after a contest that had lasted through the entire 
session, the legislature was compelled to adjourn without 
electing a Senator. To remedy such evils an amendment 
providing for the election of Senators by a direct vote 
was adopted in 1913, and since that time the Senate, like 
the House, has been composed of members elected by the 
people (161). 

Powers of Congress. The power of Congress extends to 
almost every subject of national concern coming under the 
jurisdiction of the federal government. Its ordinary legis- 
lative powers, enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the 
Constitution and touched upon in a general way hereto- 
fore (p. 47), will receive particular attention at appropriate 
points in subsequent chapters. But Congress enjoys im- 
portant powers that are not strictly legislative in character. 
It possesses the power of removing the civil officers of the 
United States by the process of impeachment. When a 
high federal official is charged with gross misconduct 
in office — as, for example, if a President should be 
charged with not enforcing a law, or a federal judge should 
be accused of receiving bribes — he may be reached by im- 
peachment. Impeachment begins in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, where the charges against the unfaithful officer 
must be laid (14). If, in the judgment of the House, the 
accused person is guilty, the impeachment or accusation is 
carried to the Senate to be tried (22). The Senate, while 
trying the impeachment, sits as a court of justice. 
Witnesses are summoned and examined, and evidence pro 
and con is presented. If by a two-thirds vote the Senate 
sustains the impeachment, the accused person is deprived 
of his office (23). He may afterward be tried and 
punished in a court of law for his offense, but such a trial 
would, not be a part of the process of impeachment. 

The main object of impeachment is to protect the govern- 



104 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ment from the acts of faithless officers, not to punish crime. 
Its purpose, therefore, is fulfilled when the offending of- 
ficer is removed. Although in practice impeachment has 
been of slight importance, it is, nevertheless, an enginery 
of tremendous possibilities. By an arbitrary or drastic 
application of this power Congress might make itself, tem- 
porarily at least, the complete master of every branch of 
the federal government. For the President, Vice-Presi- 
dent, and the members of the Supreme Court of the United 
States are all removable by impeachment (104). 

The Senate has large powers in connection with treaty- 
making, a subject that will be considered hereafter (p. 97). 
The power of the Senate is also felt in the case of presiden- 
tial appointments to office. The Constitution provides that 
certain presidential appointments must be confirmed by 
the Senate (97). In the exercise of this power the 
Senate has established a custom of confirming only those 
appointments that are agreeable to the senator from the 
State in which the appointment is made. The Senator 
to be consulted belongs to the President's party. If the 
State in which the appointment is made has no Senator of 
the President's party, the party leaders of the State must 
be consulted. The deference to the wishes of individual 
Senators in the matter of confirming appointments is 
called senatorial courtesy. The application of the rule 
of senatorial courtesy greatly increases the power of the 
Senate, for in many instances it has the effect of taking 
federal patronage from the President and bestowing it 
upon Senators. When confirming appointments the Sen- 
ate regards itself as acting in an executive capacity. It 
holds its executive sessions behind closed doors. All purely 
legislative sessions, both of the House and of the Senate, 
are as a rule open to the public. 

Congress the Hope of the Nation. Congress, by reason of 
its far-reaching powers and by virtue of its organization, 
is the political nerve center of the American nation. Its 



THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS 105 

members, whether those of the House or of the Senate, come 
fresh from the people, and its voice is the voice of the peo- 
ple. Its laws affect, directly or indirectly, for good or for 
evil, every person in the United States. In its halls have 
been done the things that have mad^America the coun- 
try it is, and our political destinies are still in its hands. 
Congress, therefore, is the hope of the nation. 

Here, then, is a civic duty of transcendent importance: 
Voters must send men to Congress who will measure up 
to the great responsibilities that rest upon the shoulders of 
their national representatives. This duty can not be ab- 
solved by offhand, careless action. If we are to have real 
statesmen in Congress, citizens when choosing Represen- 
tatives and Senators must put intelligence and honesty into 
their votes. Nor can the duty be absolved by criticism and 
scolding. In this case, as in all eases, let it be said again, 
it is vain and useless to rail at our Representatives and 
say ugly things about them. Voters must take time by 
the forelock and not allow bad men to get into Congress. 
If they do this, there will be no need for scolding. If the 
voters fail in this matter, if instead of sending statesmen 
to Congress we allow that body to become an assemblage 
of political gamesters, then we will certainly be started on 
the road to national ruin. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Enumerate eight of the characteristic features of the Ameri- 
can government. 

2. Explain the difference between the national principle of repre- 
sentation and the federal principle. What was the Connecticut com- 
promise ? 

3. In what respect is Congress a national body? In what re- 
spect is it a federal body? 

4. In what manner are Representatives apportioned to the sev- 
eral States? 

5. Give an account of the election of Representatives. 

6. Why was the election of United States Senators taken from 
the State legislatures and given to the people? 

7. Describe the process of impeachment. What is meant by sena- 
torial courtesy? 

8. "Congress is the life of the nation." Explain this statement, 



106 THE AMERICAN DEMOCEACY 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Show from the history of the times that the people in 1787 
needed a government that would accomplish just such objects as are 
mentioned in the preamble ( 1 ) . 

2. What words in the preamble reveal the democratic feature of 
our Constitution? What words its federal feature? 

3. In referring to the government that has its seat at Washing- 
ton, why do we sometimes speak of it as being federal and sometimes 
as being national? 

4. Give the history of the word "gerrymandering." Is there any 
sign of gerrymandering in the boundaries of the congressional dis- 
tricts of your State? Point out the wrongs of gerrymandering. 
What system of representation heretofore described would lessen the 
evil of gerrymandering? Bound the congressional district in which 
you live. 

5. By referring to the Constitution answer the following ques- 
tions, and give reasons for the constitutional provisions: How is a 
member of the House of Representatives elected, and what is the 
length of his term of office (3) ? What are the qualifications of a 
member of the House as to age, citizenship, and residence (5) ? 
When is a person qualified to vote for Representatives in the 
House (4) ? How is a vacancy in the House of Representatives 
filled (12)? What are the qualifications of a Senator as to age, 
citizenship, and residence (18)? When does the Vice-President 
have a right to vote in the Senate (20) ? Who presides at an im- 
peachment trial when the President has been impeached (22) ? If 
the right to membership in Congress is contested, how is the ques- 
tion decided (26) ? How is the compensation of members of Con- 
gress determined (32) ? What special privileges do members of 
Congress enjoj^ (33) ? Wliat circumstance will prevent a member 
of Congress from receiving an appointment to office under the fed- 
eral government (34)? What circumstance will disqualify a man 
for membership in Congress (35) ? 

6. Should a member of the Lower House consider the interests of 
his district as being of more importance than those of the nation? 
Should a Senator place the interests of his State above those of the 
nation ? 

7. Congressmen receive twenty cents for every mile of travel to 
Washington and return to their homes. What is the amount of the 
mileage of the member of the House who represents your district? 

8. Among the members of the thirtieth Congress — the one that 
assembled in December, 1847 — were Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Web- 
ster, John C. Calhoun, Stephen A. Douglas, Thomas H. Benton, Lewis 
Cass, and Andrew Johnson. Name seven of the greatest leaders of 
the present Congress, and compare them in respect to ability and 
statesmanship with the seven leaders mentioned above. 

9. Name the Senators and Representatives elected from this 
State. How many of them are distinguished for their ability? (A 
copy of the Congressional Directory is of great service to a Civics 



THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS 107 

class ; doubtless a copy may be secured through, the kindness of. some 
member of Congress . ) 

10. In 1007 the salary of members of Congress was raised from 
$5,000 to $7,500. Did the rise in salary secure a higher grade of 
Senators and Representatives? Can you secure better officials by 
giving them more money? Could you secure better Representatives 
in Congress by electing the best men available and then honoring 
and trusting them after their election? Will censure and distrust 
make men better or worse? Will honor and respect make them 
better or worse? Do you often hear members of Congress praised? 
Have you observed that voters show much anxiety about the elec- 
tion of members of Congress? Give reasons why voters should be 
deeply concerned about the election of Senators and Representatives. 

Topics foe Special Work 

1. The Election of United States Senators: Jones, 129-141. 

2. Gerrymandering: Jones, 151-155. 

3. Rights of Senators and Representatives: Hinsdale, 182-186. 

4. The House of Representatives and House of Commons: Kaye, 

149-156. 

5. An Apportionment Bill: Kaye, 148-149. 

6. The House of Representatives: Munro, 176-190. 



XV 
CONGRESS AT WORK 

In the preceding chapter the broader aspects of the subject of con- 
gressional organization were considered. In this chapter we shall 
learn of the organization which Congress provides for the conduct- 
ing of its business in an orderly manner. How does Congress go 
about its work? How is a law of Congress passed? 

Assembling of Congress and Its Adjournment. It is pro- 
vided in the Constitution that Congress shall assemble at 
least once in every year (25), and, unless a different date 
is fixed by law, the meeting shall be on the first Monday in 
December. It should be clearly understood, however, that 
Congress is fully competent to fix the date of its regular 
meeting. For example, it could arrange to meet annually 
on the 5th of March. An extra session of Congress begins 
at a date fixed by the President (100). After Congress has 
once assembled it msiy hold sessions continuously until its 
legal existence comes to an end. The President may call 
a Congress to Washington, but he can not send it home. 
The assembling and adjournment of Congress, therefore, 
are matters that are completely under the control of Con- 
gress itself. In case, however, the two Houses should not 
be able to agree upon a day for adjournment, the Presi- 
dent may intervene and adjourn them until such time as 
he may think proper (101), 

How Congresses Are Numbered; Sessions of Congress. 

The first Plouse of Representatives was elected to serve 
from March 4, 1789, until March 4, 1791, when the terms 
of all its members expired. But on March 4, 1791, the 
term of only one third of the members of the Senate had 
expired; two thirds still retained their seats. So the en- 
tire membership of Congress really did not come to an end 

108 



CONGRESS AT WORK 109 

on March 4, 1791. Yet it was decided to disregard the 
term of the Senators and number the Congresses accord- 
ing to the periods for which the Representatives were 
elected. According to this rule, the first Congress began 
its legal existence March 4, 1789, and expired at the hour 
of noon, March 4, 1791, when the terms of the Representa- 
tives first elected came to an end ; the second Congress came 
into power March 4, 1791, and ended its career March 4, 
1793 ; the third Congress began March 4, 1793, and ended 
March 4, 1795 ; and thus to the present time. Congresses, 
therefore, are numbered according to the biennial periods 
for which Representatives are elected, and the legal exist- 
ence of a Congress begins on March 4, following the election 
of Representatives, and ends March 4 two years later. 

As a rule, the work of Congress is done in two regular 
sessions. The first session begins in December, when a 
Congress assembles for the first time, and usually ends late 
in the spring or early in the summer of the following year, 
although occasionally it does not end until late in autumn. 
This first session is known as the long session. The second, 
or short, session begins when Congress assembles in Decem- 
ber for the second time, and ends at twelve o'clock meridian 
the following March 4, Besides the two regular sessions, 
there may be one or more extra sessions, beginning on dates 
fixed by the President, but ending at the pleasure of Con- 
gress. 

Congress assembles in the Capitol at Washington, the 
Senate occupying the north wing of the building, and the 
House the south wing. When making laws, the two 
Houses must carry on work during the same period of 
time, although either House may sit alone for a period not 
exceeding three days (31). In the making of a law the 
House and the Senate are coordinate bodies; a bill passed 
by one House is not a law until it is passed by the other 
also, Either House may originate and pass such bills as 
it chooses, except that bills for raising revenue must 
originate in the House of Representatives (36). 



no THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

The House at Work. Since each House effects its own or- 
ganization (13, 21) and each goes about its tasks in its own 
way (28), the House at work presents a picture quite dif- 
ferent from that presented by the Senate at work. When 
the members of a new House assemble for the first time, 
the clerk of the previous House calls them to order, causes 
a roll to be called, and, if a quorum (27) is present, invites 
the House to proceed with the election of a Speaker (13), 
who is always chosen from among the members of the 
House. After the election of the Speaker the other officers 
of the House, the sergeant-at-arms, the clerk, doorkeeper, 
postmaster, and chaplain, are elected, and the work of the 
session begins. 

The character of the' proceedings of the House depends 
in no small degree upon the man selected as Speaker. 
The duties of the Speaker are defined by the rules of the 
House. He calls the House to order; he signs all bills; 
he decides questions of parliamentary law; he puts ques- 
tions to the House to be voted upon ; he preserves order on 
the floor of the House; and in general he carries out the 
will of the House. When a member wishes to be heard, he 
must first be recognized by the Speaker. A member fail- 
ing to secure recognition must remain silent. The right 
of the Speaker to recognize or ignore a member desiring 
to speak carries with it much power; but it is a power 
that must not be abused, and that must not be used in 
a haphazard or partizan fashion. 

The House consists of more than four hundred ambitious, 
enthusiastic men, almost every one of whom has his heart set 
upon the passage of one or more bills. At the opening of 
a session of Congress, therefore, there is a great rush of 
new bills. Several thousand are introduced within a few 
days after the session begins. During the life of a single 
Congress as many as twenty-five or thirty thousand bills 
have to be considered. Bills are introduced by individual 













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A CHART SHOWING AT A GLANCE THE RELATIVE 

STRENGTH OF EACH STATE IN THE NATIONAL 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

(The vote of each member is represented by an area, equal 

to one of the small squares) 

111 



112 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

members very often at the request of .an outsider, and it 
may easily happen that a member is personally opposed to 
the very bill he introduces. For it is no trouble to in- 
troduce a bill. In the House of Representatives a mem- 
ber does this simply by dropping it into a receptacle called 
the ''hopper" — the place where a bill starts on its long 
journey through the legislative mill. 

Bills are taken from the "hopper" and distributed, each 
finding its way to the appropriate committee. A com- 
mittee is a small group of members to which is assigned 
the task of attending to a particular branch of legislation. 
The more important committees of the House consist of 
from fifteen to twenty-one members. The principal stand- 
ing committees — committees that are provided for by the 
rules and that continue in existence throughout the ses- 
sion — are those on ways and means, appropriations, foreign 
relations, the judiciary, currency, interstate and foreign 
commerce, military affairs, naval affairs, pensions, elec- 
tions, manufactures, agriculture, rivers and harbors. The 
committees are elected by the House, but before the vote 
is taken the membership of each committee is determined 
by party action. For in Congress, as elsewhere, party gov- 
ernment holds sway. 

It is in the committee-rooms that most of the serious 
work of Congress is done. A¥hen a visitor to the halls of 
Congress finds only a handful of members in their seats, he 
should not think that our legislators are remiss in their 
duties; for the absentees are scattered about in the com- 
mittee-rooms of the Capitol and office buildings, busily en- 
gaged in the preparation of bills. The important commit- 
tees meet in spacious rooms, and frequently carry on their 
work openly in the presence of large audiences. 

When considering a bill, the committee gives a hearing 
to the public and allows friends of the measure to speak 
in its favor, while opponents are allowed to speak against 
it. At these hearings any citizen who wishes to be heard 
is allowed to address the committee, provided it can find 



CONGRESS AT WORK 113 

time to listen to him. And citizens make good use of the 
privilege. When very important legislation is pending, 
throngs of men and women from all parts of the country 
visit Washington for the purpose of appearing before the 
committees of Congress. Public officials as well as private 
citizens are heard. Members of the Cabinet, generals, ad- 
mirals, and other high officers present their views. Quite 
often even a member of Congress will appear before a com- 
mittee of which he is not a member, and speak in favor of 
or against some bill under consideration. So committee 
procedure is thoroughly democratic in character, and the 
committee-room is a place where discussion is very full 
and free and open. 

After the hearings are over and the discussion is finished, 
a vote is taken. If the majority of the committee is against 
the proposed measure, it is reported unfavorahly; that is, 
it is ''killed in committee," And that is the fate of most 
bills, for thousands of the bills that go into the "hop- 
per" never get any further than the committee-room. A 
bill that has been smothered in the committee-room may by 
a mandate of the House be brought up for consideration, 
notwithstanding the adverse action of the committee. But 
recourse to this process is seldom taken; when a bill fails 
in committee, that usually is the last of it. If a majority 
of the committee believe that Congress ought to have an op- 
portunity to vote on the proposed measure, it is reported 
favorably ; and, unless it is a highly privileged matter, it 
is placed upon the calendar along with hundreds, per- 
haps thousands, of other bills. The calendar, a kind of 
catalogue or register of bills, has been, called the "cemetery 
of legislative hopes, ' ' because so many bills are never heard 
of again after they reach it. When a bill has found its 
way to the calendar its fate henceforth rests with the rules 
of the House. The general rule in reference to a bill on the 
calendar is that it must wait its turn for consideration, a 
rule that, if rigidly enforced, would in most cases postpone 
action indefinitely. 



114 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

But a method is provided by which a bill may be ad- 
vanced on the calendar. The agency for moving a bill 
forward, and for controlling in many ways the procedure 
of the House, is the committee on rules. This consists of 
eleven members, six of whom belong to the political party 
in the majority and five to the minority party. The com- 
mittee on rules has the high privilege of bringing in at any 
moment a ^'special rule" or order, appointing a certain 
time for the consideration of a bill. With the consent of a 
majority of the House, it can without any discussion or 
delay order any bill to be taken from the calendar for im- 
mediate consideration. It can do much more. It can de- 
termine the conditions of debate, how long members may 
speak, whether amendments to the bill may be offered or 
not, when a vote shall be taken. A few years ago, when it 
was desired to hasten the passage of a railroad measure in 
order to avert a strike, a "special order," brought in at 
eleven o'clock in the morning, mapped out a course of such 
rapid procedure that the bill reached a vote by four o 'clock 
in the afternoon. Since the course of legislation in the 
House is practically determined by the committee on rules, 
this little group is one of the most powerful parliamentary 
engines in Congress. 

Before a House bill is acted upon in a formal, final man- 
ner, it is usually considered by the committee of the whole. 
This is the entire membership of the House acting as a 
committee. It is simply the House itself doing business 
with less regard to rules of procedure, unhampered by 
tedious roll-calls, or delayed by motions to adjourn, to re- 
fer, to postpone, and the like. In the committee of the 
whole there is great freedom of debate, and many members 
participate in the discussions. In fact, it is here that the 
House, considered as a deliberative body, is at its best. 
When a bill has been favorably acted upon by the com- 
mittee of the whole, it is reported to the House organized 
as in regular session. A final vote on the bill is then taken, 



CONGRESS AT WORK 115 

and if a majority of the House is in its favor it is sent to 
the Senate. 

The Senate at Work. In the Senate, procedure in its 
main features resembles that of the House. Much of the 
heavy work is done by committees elected by the vote of 
the Senate, the membership of each committee being pre- 
viously determined by party action. When a bill comes 
to the Senate from the House, or when one is introduced 
by a Senator, it is referred to the proper committee for 
consideration, public hearings are granted, and if the meas- 
ure meets with the approval of the committee it is reported 
to the Senate for action. The Senate goes about its work 
in a masterful, dignified way and without the appearance 
of hurry. Its repose is in keeping with the stability of its 
organization. When a Congress expires, two thirds of the 
members of the Senate retain their seats in the next Con- 
gress (16). The Senate is thus in part a continuous body: 
"alwa^^s changing^ — it is forever the same." It is not re- 
organized at the opening of each Congress. The Constitu- 
tion provides that the Vice-President shall be its per- 
manent presiding officer (20). The temporary president 
(21) and its other officers hold their positions for indefinite 
periods. Senators on an average are much older than mem- 
bers of the House, and as a rule they bring to their work 
the lessons of a longer political career. The continuity 
of its existence, the stability of its organization, the ma- 
turity and experience of its members, are all reflected in 
the Senate's proceedings. 

As might be expected, the course of legislation in the 
Senate is smoother than it is in the House. On the floor 
of the Senate there is ordinarily the utmost freedom of 
debate. Any member may talk as long as he pleases on 
any subject that comes up for discussion, it being assumed 
that no Senator will abuse the privilege of unlimited de- 
bate and talk merely to kill time. But occasionally Sena- 



116 THE AMEEICAN DEMOCRACY 

tors filibuster; that is, they talk on and on, killing time 
in order to prevent a vote on a bill that would pass if al- 
lowed to come to a vote. In 1890 a Senator, in order to 
keep a measure from coming to a vote, spoke for four- 
teen hours without interruption. In 1903 a Senator, wish- 
ing to force the Senate to yield on a certain point, placed 
Lord Byron's complete works on his desk, and threatened 
to read every word of them if the Senate should persist 
in refusing to do what he wanted it to do. The Senate 
yielded because the demand was made in the closing hours 
of a Congress and important business was ahead. In 
order to check filibustering, the Senate in 1917 adopted a 
rule making it possible to limit the time a Senator may 
speak on a particular measure to one hour, when it is the 
wish of two thirds of the Senate that the debate be thus 
limited. 

When the Senate and the House disagree as to some of 
the details of a bill and there is a "deadlock," a joint com- 
mittee, called a conference committee, consisting of a group 
of three or four or five members from each branch, is ap- 
pointed to adjust the difference, so that an agreement may 
be reached. In conference much of the important work of 
Congress is done, for it is there that all disputes between 
the House and the Senate about bills are settled. It must 
be understood, however, that every particular change made 
in a bill by the conferees must be agreed to by both the 
House and the Senate before the bill can become an act 
of Congress. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What are the three methods by which Congress may be assem- 
bled? How is it adjourned? 

2. On what principle are Congresses numbered? When does the 
legal existence of a Congress begin? When does it terminate? 
What can you say of the several sessions of Congress? 

3. What is the first step taken in the organization of a Congress? 
What are the duties of the Speaker? 

4. What is the method of introducing bills? 

5. Give an account of the committee system. 

6. What is the calendar? How may a bill be taken from the 



CONGRESS AT WORK 117 

calendar before its turn? How is it possible for the committee of 
rules to control the course of legislation in the House? Give an 
account of the committee of the whole. 

7. Describe the Senate in its leading characteristics. 

8. On what principle is debate in the Senate conducted? How 
may filibustering be checked? 

9. Give an account of the conference committee. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Answer the following questions by referring to the Constitu- 
tion: How is a Speaker of the House of Representatives chosen 
(13)? When does the Vice-President have a vote in the Senate? 
When a President is impeached who presides at the impeachment 
trial in the Senate (23) ? What constitutes a quorum in the 
House (26) ? How may disorderly behavior in Congress be pun- 
ished (29) ? How may a member of Congress be expelled (29) ? 
How may a yea and nay vote be secured (30) ? Give the history of 
a bill after it has passed Congress ( 37 ) . How may the veto of the 
President be overcome (40) ? Under what circumstances may the 
President defeat a bill without vetoing it (41) ? 

2. Give reasons for not allowing the Vice-President to preside at 
an impeachment trial when the Pre^dent is accused. * 

3. Why is it unfortunate that so long a time should elapse he-,£,„„;,M^ 
tween the election of Congress and its first regular session? 

4. If a member of Congress should be expelled and his constitu- /v*** 
ents should reelect him after his expulsion, should Congress their 
permit him to take his seat? 

5. Ought a member of the Cabinet be allowed to take part in the,il^.— 
debates of Congress ? 

6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of "senatorial 
courtesy" ? • 

7. If President Johnson had been removed from office by the 
process of impeachment how would his successor have been appointed? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Committees of Congress: Kaye, 162-166. 

2. Freedom of Debate in the Senate: Kaye, 167-170. 

3. Leadership in the House: Beard, 280-286. 

4. Procedure in the House: Munro, 191-207. 

5. Committees in the House of Representatives: Gettell, 354-356. 



THE PRESIDENCY 

In the organization of the federal government the President holds 
the most commanding and conspicuous position. What are the lead- 
ing facts in respect to the Presijlencj? How does the President re- 
ceive his office? What are his; powers and duties? What is his 
position as a political personalii^? 

Election of the President. As we have seen, a fatal weak- 
ness of the Union under the Articles of Confederation was 
the absence of an executive.^ enforce the laws. The Con- 
vention soon decided to reifedy this defect by establishing 
a strong executive departiSrtit and vesting its powers in 
a President (78). How was this officer to be selected? 
This question gave rise to'^^a vast amount of discussion. 
Some wanted him elected by Congress; but it was said 
that this would make the executive dependent upon the 
legislature, and it wife highly important that these two 
branches should be ftMepsndent of each other. It was 
suggested that he be ej,€.ctecC% the Senate ; but this method 
was opposed as being too aristocratic. An election by a 
popular vote of the whole country was recommended; this 
plan was opposed as being feo democratic. To end the dis- 
cussion, a plan of indirect election was adopted : the Presi- 
dent was to be chosen by State colleges of electors, the 
electoral college of each State to have a number of electors 
equal to the combined number of Senators and Kepresen- 
tatives to which the State was entitled in Congress (81). 
Each State was permitted to select its electors in a way 
agreeable to the legislature (80). Each of the electors was 
to vote for two persons (82), and the person who received 
the greatest number of votes (providing it was a number 

118 






THE PRESIDENCY Vim 

equal to a majority of the electoral votes) was to be the 
President, and the one who stood second in the list was to 
be Vice President (85). If more than one person received 
a number of votes equal to a majority of the electoral votes, 
the election of the President was to be made by the House 
(84). 

The electoral plan as first adopted proved to be as 
clumsy in practice as it was excellent in theory. In the 
fourth presidential election the electoral system as devised 
by the framers broke down almost completely, and the 
Constitution had to be speedily amended (146). By the 
twelfth amendment, which was adopted in 1804, the work 
of the electoral college is simplified by making the elec- 
tion of the Vice-President an affair entirely distinct from 
the election of the President (147). 

The State legislature may appoint the electors itself, 
it may vest their appointment in some other bod^^, or it 
may call upon the people to elect them. In the early days 
of the Union the States differed in their methods of select- 
ing electors. In some States they were elected by the legis- 
lature ; in some they were elected by districts, as Repre- 
sentatives in Congress are at the present time ; while in a 
few States they were elected on a common ticket. To-day 
every State elects its presidential electors in the same way 
— on a common ticket by a popular vote. Such uniformity 
is at first sight almost amazing. Why have all the States 
agreed to do this thing in the same way? Democracy and 
party organization must answer. We still adhere to the 
forms of the electoral system as provided in the twelfth 
amendment, but the spirit of that system has long since 
departed. The people long ago took the election of the 
President into their own hands. They have done this 
through the agency of political parties, and the require- 
ments of party organization have produced uniformity in 
the methods of electing the presidential electors. How one 
hundred millions of people actually accomplish this stu- 
pendous and inspiring task of selecting one of themselves 



120 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

as their ruler may best be told when we come to speak of 
party organization (p. 222). 

Powers and Duties of the President. The members of the 
Convention were distrustful of executive power, and were 
disposed to clothe the new President with only as much 
authority as was absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, they 
gave him fully as much power as an executive ought to have. 
They made him commander-in-chief of the military forces 
(92) ; they gave him the power of pardoning offenses 
against the government of the United States (94) ; they 
conferred upon him, jointly with the Senate, the treaty- 
making power (95) and the power of appointing foreign 
ministers, consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and many 
other federal officers (96) ; they imposed upon him the 
function of receiving foreign ambassadors and representa- 
tives of foreign governments (101) ; they gave him au- 
thority to deliver to Congress in person, or to lay before 
that body in writing, messages setting forth the condition 
of p-ublic affairs and recommending measures for legisla- 
tion (100) ; they gave him power to convene Congress in 
extraordinary session and to adjourn Congress when the 
two Houses can not agree as to the matter of adjournment 
(101) ; they gave him the veto power (38). 

The highest and the chief duty of the President is "to 
take care that the laws be faithfully executed" (102). 
This is a purely executive duty, and one that the President 
can not escape. A law may be distasteful to the President ; 
he may regard it as hurtful or unconstitutional; yet, as 
long as it is a law, he must enforce it. "As the citizen may 
not elect what laws he will obey, neither may the execu- 
tive elect which he will enforce." Should the President 
wantonly refuse to execute a law, he would be removable 
by the process of impeachment. 

The President's Share in Law-Making. While the Presi- 
dent is bound to carry out the laws of Congress whether 



THE PRESIDENCY 121 

he is in sjrmpatliy with them or not, he may nevertheless 
do much to prevent the enactment of laws obnoxious to him- 
self. His power of prevention lies in the veto (38). The 
early Presidents regarded the veto as a weapon placed in 
their hands for the purpose of preventing Congress from 
passing such laws as were seemingly violations of the Con- 
stitution : they did not assume that the veto was given them 
in order that it might be used to prevent the passing of 
any kind of laws whatever. Andrew Jackson, however, 
set the example of vetoing any measure to which he was 
personally opposed, and his successors have not hesitated 
to use the veto as a real legislative engine. How great 
the veto power is may be seen by a simple calculation. A 
bill may pass in the present House of 435 members by a 
vote of 218 to 217, and in the Senate by a vote of 49 to 
47. Now, if the President should veto the bill, it would 
require 72 more votes in the House and 15 more in the 
Senate (40) to pass the measure over his veto. 

The President's share in law-making does not end with 
the negative power of the veto; he possesses some legisla- 
tive power of a positive nature. In making the laws 
known as treaties he takes the initiative, and, as will be 
explained hereafter (p. 259), his power is almost absolute 
at every step of the treaty-making process. By convening 
Congress in extra session, he can present to that body sub- 
jects for its special consideration and urge upon it his 
views in respect to needed legislation. 

In addition to his Constitutional means of reaching Con- 
gress, the President has other convenient avenues of ap- 
proach. Through his influence as a party leader and as 
a distributor of patronage, he can often cause members of 
Congress to support the measures upon which his heart is 
set. Through his Secretaries or other high officials he may 
make known his wishes to the committees of Congress and 
cause them to consider bills in which he is interested. A 
Secretary may not appear on the floor of either House as 
the advocate of a measure, but he may appear in a com- 



122 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

mittee-room and act as the mouth-piece of the President. 
Then, too, the President has great weight with Con- 
gress because of his tremendous influence with the people. 
For the President has the whole nation as his audience. 
Everything he says is printed in every newspaper in the 
country. When, therefore, his voice is raised in favor of 
a measure, it is heard by the whole body of the American 
people. If it is a clear and persuasive voice, millions of 
people are won to his way of thinking ; and it is not to be 
wondered at if members of Congress sometimes hesitate to 
oppose their wishes to those of the President. 

Succession to the Presidency. A vacancy in the office of 
President may occur by the death, impeachment, or resig- 
nation of the incumbent, or by his inability to discharge 
the duties of his office. The Constitution provides a Vice- 
President (88) to succeed in the case of a vacancy. If for 
any reason neither President nor Vice-President can serve, 
an officer designated by Congress (89) succeeds to the 
Presidency. Under the presidential succession act of 1886 
it is provided that in case neither President nor Vice-Presi- 
dent can serve members of the Cabinet shall succeed to the 
Presidency in the following order: (1) the Secretary of 
State, (2) the Secretary of the Treasury, (3) the Secretary 
of "War, (4) the Attorney-General, (5) the Postmaster-Gen- 
eral, (6) the Secretary of the Navy, (7) the Secretary of 
the Interior. The one succeeding to the Presidency serves 
for the remainder of the four years, but any one thus 
succeeding must have the constitutional qualifications. 

Thus far in our history the only officer who has been 
called upon to fill a vacancy in the Presidency has been 
a Vice-President. Five times such a succession has oc- 
curred, the vacancy each time being caused by death. The 
office of Vice-President is, therefore, one of great potential 
importance. In selecting a Vice-President we ought to be 
almost as careful as we are when we select a President. A 
party convention, when nominating a candidate for the 



THE PRESIDENCY 123 

Vice-Presidency, should keep in mind the interests of the 
country as well as the interests of a party, and refuse to 
name as candidate for Vice-President any man who would 
not be likely to acquit himself well in the presidential chair. 

The President as a Political Personality. The President 
is the most commanding political personage in the United 
States. He is not only the fountain of executive energy — 
he is also the representative of a great people. He re- 
flects the ideals and aspirations and attributes of the 
American electorate. If the electorate should become vain- 
glorious and selfish and low in its standard of morality, it 
might place in the presidential chair a man like unto it- 
self. To the honor of our democracy, only pure and honest 
men have been electedrto the Presidency ; and tolthe honor 
of party management, no low or vile man has ever been 
named as a presidential candidate. Voters ought to de- 
mand that this high level of personal character in presiden- 
tial aspirants be maintained. The Presidency under the 
Constitution is attainable by any natural born citizen (86), 
but no citizen of smirched reputation or base character 
should feel that it is within the range of possibility for him 
to become President. The saneness and goodness of 
democracy will be assured only as long as it refuses to 
ally itself with evil — evil men or evil policies. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What methods of electing the President were suggested in the 
Convention of 1787? Explain the method that was adopted. What 
change was made in this method by the twelfth amendment? 

2. In what ways may presidential electors be chosen? Why has 
the present method been adopted in all the States? 

3. Enumerate the constitutional powers and duties of the Presi- 
dent. What is his chief constitutional duty? 

4. Give an account of the share the President has in law-making. 

5. In what ways, other than constitutional, may the President 
influence Congress? 

6. What provision has been made for succession to the Presi- 
dency ? 

7. What can you say of the President regarded as a political 
personality ? 



% 



124 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Examine the Constitution for answers to the following ques- 
tions : What is the length of the President's term of office ( 79 ) ? 
What are his qualifications as to residence, citizenship, and age 
(86) ? If neither President nor Vice-President can serve, how is the 
ofiice of President filled (89) ? Can a President have his salary in- 
creased (90) ? What is the President's oath of office (91) ? 

2. Many people think that the President should be elected for a 
term of six years, and that he should be ineligible for a second term. 
Discuss this. 

3. What are the qualifications for the office of Vice-President? 
What are the duties of the Vice-President? 

4. Name the qualities that should be found in a President. Name 
the four Presidents who have been the highest embodiment of these 
qualities. 

5. How many Presidents have been elected a second time? Have 
the second administrations of Presidents generally been successful? 

6. Is the^ajdoning power a judicial or an ex^aui^e function? 
Vj^l^j^^^r a legislative or an Qj^y^ve function? 

Presidents have succeeded to the Presidency? Of 
hese how many were well fitted for the higher position? 

8. Ought the President to be elected by a direct popular vote? 

9. Some one has said: "If we must have a 'boss,' let that 'boss' 
be the President and not Congress." Do you see lurking in such a 
sentiment any danger to democracy and to representative govern- 
ment? If so, point out the danger. 

10. "The President is the hope of the nation." Do you give your 
assent to this statement? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Veto Power of the President: Johnson, 370-379. 

2. Presidential Dictatorship: Johnson, 474-481. 

3. Executive Supremacy: Kaye, 196-202. 

4. The President as a Party Leader: Jones, 205-211. 

5. Impeachment of President Johnson: Johnson, 553-556. 




^.-R-"^- 



XVII 
THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 

In the foregoing chapter we learned the leading facts in respect 
to the Presidency. But the President is only the chief officer of the 
executive branch of the federal government. Below him are the 
great federal executive departments established for carrying on the 
nation's business. 

The Executive Civil Service. With the exception of the 
provisions referring to the President and Vice-President^ 
the Constitution says very little about the executive brancliy 
of the federal government. The only reference to the or^ 
ganization of the executive departments are a few words! 
that merely imply their existence (93, 98), Yet upon these 
few words of implication a mighty federal machine has been 
erected. 

In the executive civil service of the federal government 
nearly 600,000 persons are employed. These persons re- 
ceive their positions in two ways : they are either appointed 
directly by the President, or they are appointed by the 
heads of departments. The 10,000 or more Presidential 
appointees — the heads of departments and their chief as- 
sistants, the postmasters of the larger places, the chief cus- 
tom-house officials and collectors of internal revenue — must 
be confirmed by the Senate (97). All the vast army of 
officers and employees not appointed directly by the Presi- 
dent are appointed by the heads of departments. 

Every person in the executive civil service, from the 
head of one of the great departments down, receives his 
position, directly or indirectly, from the President. Con- 
gress creates positions, but it can not name the x)ersons 



"1 -Ai. 



126 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

who are to fill them. It may vest the appointment else- 
where than in the President (98) but it can not place the 
appointing power beyond the President's reach. Through 
the heads of departments, the President 's power in re- 
spect to appointments extends to all the ramifications of the 
federal civil service. And his power to remove is even 
greater than his power to appoint. Appointments to the 
higher offices must be agreed to by the Senate, but in the 
matter of removals the Senate need not be consulted. The 
President may remove any person employed in the federal 
executive civil service, at any time, for any reason or for no 
reason. 

Of course, the President can not give special attention 
to every case of appointment or removal. In these matters, 
as in everything else, he must be guided by the heads of de- 
partments. He must also consult Senators and Repre- 
sentatives and party leaders about appointments, and he 
must take care to allot to each State a number of appoint- 
ments apportioned to its population. 

Nearly two thirds of the clerks and other employees per- 
forming routine duties secure their positions through the 
agency of the Civil Service Commission. It is the duty of 
this Commission to examine applicants seeking employ- 
ment under the federal government and to report on their 
fitness. The names of persons who have passed the ex- 
aminations are sent to the heads of departments, and 
selections are made from among the applicants who have 
acquitted themselves with the greatest credit, those get- 
ting the highest marks being the first to be appointed. 
Employees who have passed the civil service examinations 
and secured employment are allowed to hold their places 
until the age of retirement, provided they conduct them- 
selves properly and do their work well. 

The Cabinet. To assist him in governing, the President 
summons to his aid ten subordinates, known as Secretaries. 
These are: 

X 



/''iU'u.'^'' ^ 



FEDERAL EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 127 

1. The Secretary of State. 

2. The Secretary of the Treasury. 

3. The Secretary of War. 

4. The Attorney-General. 

5. The Postmaster-General. '''"'"'''' 

6. The Secretary of the Nav}^ 

7. The Secretary of the Interior. 

8. The Secretary of Agriculture. 

9. The Secretary of Commerce. 
10. The Secretary of Labor. 

Each of the Secretaries is responsible to the President 
for the management of one of the great departments of 
executive business. At stated times the Secretaries meet 
the President for consultation. This executive council is 
known as the Cabinet. The Cabinet as a body has no 
legal functions whatever, and is wholly unknown to the 
Constitution, although the possibility of the existence of a 
consultative body is dimly foreshadowed in the words: 
'^The President may require the opinion in writing of the 
principal officers in each of the executive departments upon 
any subject relating to the duties of their respective of- 
fices" (93). 

The Cabinet meets at the White House at the call of the 
President. If the President should fail to call his Secre- 
taries together, there would be no such thing as a Cabinet. 
Several years ago there was a rumor abroad that the Presi- 
dent had decided to do away with the Cabinet. The rumor 
proved to be only a fabrication; yet, if the President had 
wished to abolish the Cabinet, he could have done so. 
Records of the meetings of the Cabinet are rarely kept, and 
the public knows nothing of what takes place at them. 
The President is not bound to act in accordance with the 
wishes of the Cabinet, and not infrequently he acts in op- 
position to their wishes. The function of the Cabinet — 
if it can be said to have a function at all — is to discuss and 
advise : it is for the President to decide and act. 



128 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Organization of the Departments. For the most part, it 
is through his Cabinet officers, acting as heads of the great 
departments, that the President governs. The names of 
these departments, a brief statement of the purpose for 
which each has been established, and a general view ^ of 
the organization of each will now be given : 

I. The Department of State, under the management of 
the Secretary of State, attends to foreign affairs. In this 
department are the Diplomatic Bureau,'^ the Consular 
Bureau, Division of Passport Controls, and the Bureau of 
Rolls and Library. 

II. The Department of the Treasury, under the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, manages the financial business of the 
country. In this great department are the offices of the 
Comptroller of the Currency, the Treasurer of the United 
States, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Director 
of the Mint, the Comptroller of the Treasury, the Bureau 
of the Public Health Service, and the Bureau of War Risk 
Insurance. 

III. The Department of War, under the Secretary, of 
War, has charge of all matters relating to the land forces, 
to sea-coast fortifications, and to the administration of the 
Military Academy at West Point. In addition to many 
offices and bureaus whose duties relate wholly to the art of 
war, there are also in the department the Bureau of Insidar 
Affairs and the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Har- 
bors. 

1 The services of the several executive departments will receive attention 
at appropriate places hereafter. In this section only the organization of the 
departments will be indicated. 

2 Since each of the ten departments has a large volume of executive busi- 
ness, it is necessary to subdivide the work of a department and place an 
officer at the head of each subdivision. A subdivision is usually called a 
bureau, and the head of a bureau is called a director, or commissioner, or 
superintendent. In the text only the important subdivisions are mentioned. 
When the work of the Secretary of a department becomes too heavy for one 
man, he is provided with as many assistant secretaries as may be needful. 
Thus in the Department of State there are three assistant secretaries ; in the 
Department of the Treasury, jBve. A full account of the organization of all 
the ten executive departments of the federal government is found in the Con- 
gressional Directory, a work compiled for the use of members of Congress. 
This book ought to be available for class use. A copy of it might possibly be 
secured through the courtesy of a Representative or a Senator. 



FEDERAL EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 129 

IV. The Department of Justice, under the Attorney- 
General, is the law department of the national government. 
When the President or a member of the Cabinet desires 
legal advice, it is furnished by this department. When 
the federal government is interested in a case, an officer 
of the Department of Justice defends or prosecutes the 
suit in the federal courts. 

V. The Post-0 ffice Department, under the Postmaster- 
General, in addition to collecting, carrying, and distribut- 
ing the mail, maintains a parcel post, manages a system of 
postal savings banks, provides the public with stamps and 
postal cards, and conducts a postal order sj^stem by which 
money may be safely transmitted to all parts of the world. 
The Postmaster-General is assisted in his duties by four as- 
sistant postmasters-general. 

VI. The Department of the Navy, under the Secretary 
of the Navy, purchases naval supplies, provides for the 
construction and equipment of vessels, supervises the navy- 
yards and docks, and controls the Naval Academy at An- 
napolis. 

VII. The Department of the Interior, under the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, has charge of national affairs that 
are of purely domestic concern. Among the bureaus and 
officers of this large department are the General Land Of- 
fice, the Office of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Pensions, 
the Patent Office, the Bureau of Education, the Eeclama- 
tion Service, and the Geological Survey. 

VIII. The Department of Agriculture, under the Secre- 
tary of Agriculture, diffuses among the people of the 
United States useful information on subjects connected 
with agriculture, its chief subdivisions being the Office of 
Farm Management, the Weather Bureau, the Bureau of 
Animal Industry, the Bureau of Plant Industry, the Forest 
Service, the Bureau of Crop Estimates, and the Bureau of 
Public Boads and Rural Engineering. 

IX. The Department of Commerce, under the Secretary 
of Commerce, fosters, promotes, and develops foreign and 



130 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

domestic commerce, mining, manufacturing, shipping and 
fishing industries, and transportation facilities. In this 
department are the Bureau of the Census, the Bureau of 
Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the Bureau of Standards, 
the Bureau of Lighthouses, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
the Bureau of Navigation, and the Steamboat Inspection 
Service. 

X. The Department of Labor, under the Secretary of 
Labor, promotes and develops the welfare of wage-earners, 
its chief subdivisions being the United States Employment 
Service, the Bureau of Immigration, the Bureau of 
Naturalization, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the 
Children's Bureau. 

Executive Work Outside the Departments. Several im- 
portant items of executive business have not been brought 
under the supervision of any one of the ten great depart- 
ments. The Interstate Commerce Commission, a body com- 
posed of eleven commissioners, is outside the control of any 
department. The Civil Service Commission (p. 126) con- 
sists of three members who are responsible directly to the 
President. 

The Federal Reserve Board, which is composed of the 
Secretary of the Treasury, the Comptroller of the Currency, 
and five members appointed by the President, and which 
controls the organization and operations of the Federal 
Reserve Banks (p. 312), is an extra-departmental agency. 
The Federal Trade Commission (p. 345), composed of five 
members appointed by the President, is outside the control 
of any department. The Board of Mediation and Con- 
ciliation, which consists of a commissioner appointed by 
the President and of two other officers of the government 
designated by the President, is responsible only to the 
President. Likewise the Shipping Board (p. 320), the 
Tariff Commission (p. 319), the Government Printing Of- 
fice, the Library of Congress, the Railway Labor Board 
(p. 337), and the Smithsonian Institution are outside 
of regular departmental control. The chief officers in all 



FEDERAL EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS 131 

these cases of extra-departmental activity are nominated 
by the President and confirmed by the Senate, just as the 
other principal officers are. 

Salaries of Federal Officials. The salaries of the lead- 
ing federal officers are as follows: 

President $75,000 

Vice-President 12,000 

Members of the Cabinet 12,000 

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 15,000 

Associate Justices of Supreme Court 14,500 

Judges of Circuit Courts 8,500 

Judges of District Courts 7,500 

Representatives 7,500 

Senators 7,500 

Ambassadors 17,500 

Ministers 10,000 

Members of Interstate Commerce Commission . . . 10,000 

Members of Federal Trade Commission 10,000 

Members of Federal Reserve Board. 12,000 

Heads of Bureaus and Divisions 3,000 to 6,000 

Assistant Secretaries of Departments 5,000 

*rs ©N THE Text 



1. What is said in the Constitution about the organization of the 
federal executive departments? In what two ways do persons be- 
longing to the executive civil service receive their positions? What 
is the extent of the President's power of removal? In what way do 
most of the federal employees secure their positions? 

2. Give an account of the organization of the Cabinet. What is 
the chief duty of the Cabinet? 

3. Give a brief account of the organization of each of the ten 
great federal departments. 

4. Mention several agencies of executive business that do not 
come under departmental control. 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

1. In England the Cabinet consists of a group of about twenty of 
the leading members of Parliament. At the head of this group is 
the Prime Minister. The Cabinet members, besides serving as law- 



132 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

makers, at the same time act as the highest executive officers of the 
realm. The English Cabinet, therefore, is in reality a committee of 
Parliament; and, since the Cabinet really controls the execution of 
the laws, we may say that the executive branch of the English gov- 
ernment is a committee of Parliament. The English Cabinet is com- 
posed of the members of the political party in power, and its actions 
reflect the policy of that party. When a Cabinet fails to be sup- 
ported by a majority of the House of Commons, custom compels it 
either to resign or to appeal to the country by holding an election 
for a new House. 

It is often proposed that the members of the American Cabinet 
be allowed to appear in Congress and urge upon that body the 
passage of measures that are desired by the executive. What char- 
acteristic principle of our government would such a course violate? 
Would it be well to abandon our traditional policy and allow mem- 
bers of the Cabinet to appear before Congress and make known the 
wishes of the executive department? 

2. Name the members of the American Cabinet as at present con- 
stituted. 

3. What is a bureaucracy? 

Topics foe Special Woek 

1. Limiting Partizan Activity of Office-Holders : Jones, 260-266. 

2. The Term "Cabinet" in the"^ United States: Learned, 135-158. 

3. The Creation of the Cabinet: Learned, 110-134. 

4. The Cabinet: Kaye, 211-218. 

5. The Cabinet and National Administration: Munro, 126-145. 



XVIII 
THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 

The organization of the executive and legislative branches of the 
federal government having received attention, there remains to be 
described the organization of the judicial branch. Of what grades 
of courts is the federal judiciary composed? What kind of cases 
are tried in these courts? What powers do these courts exercise in 
respect to the acts of legislatures? 

Explanation of Terms. Before proceeding with the sub- 
ject before us, several terms need to be explained. Cases 
or actions that come before courts are either criminal 
or civil. A criminal case is one in which a person is tried 
for crime. In a federal court a person accused of crime 
is guaranteed a trial by jury (139) in the State within 
which the crime was committed. A civil case, broadly 
speaking, is a controversy between private individuals con- 
cerning the rights of property. When a civil case is tried 
before a judge and jury (141) it is a case at law; when 
a civil case is tried before a judge only, it is a case at 
equity. The jurisdiction of a court is its power or au- 
thority to hear and determine controversies. When a 
court may deal with an action from its commencement, 
it has original jurisdiction; when it reviews a case that 
has been tried in a lower court, it has appellate jurisdic- 
tion; when a case may be tried either in one court or an- 
other, the two courts are said to have concurrent jurisdic- 
tion ; when a case is carried from a lower court to a higher 
one to be heard, an appeal is said to be taken. 

Independence of the Federal Judiciary. The Constitu- 
tion does all that can be done to secure an independent 

133 



134 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

judiciary. It is true that the President appoints the 
federal judges ('96) ; but, once appointed, they can not be 
removed except for cause (106), and then only by the 
solemn process of impeachment. Moreover, the salary of 
a federal judge is secure; it may be increased, but it can 
never be decreased (106). Indeed, the conditions that 
surround the federal judiciary render it as independent 
as it is possible to make it. 

Organization of the Federal Courts. In the administration 
of justice there is always a gradation of courts — lower 
courts for the least important cases, higher courts for the 
weightier cases, and a highest or supreme court. The men 
of the Convention doubtless had the existing graded system 
of State courts in mind when they planned for the federal 
judiciary, but in the Constitution they indicated the or- 
ganization of the federal courts only in the broadest man- 
ner. They provided for the Supreme Court (105), and 
left the establishment and the gradation of the lower courts 
to the action of Congress. A Supreme Court there must 
be, just as there must be a President ; but the existence 
of the lower courts depends upon legislation. 

One of the first things done by the first Congress was 
to pass (1789) the Judiciary Act, by which the Supreme 
Court and the lower federal courts were organized. The 
organization provided in 1789 has, of course, been changed 
from time to time to suit changing conditions. At present 
(1920) the organization of the federal judiciary is as 
follows : 

I. District Courts. The lowest of the federal courts 
is the District Court, presided over b}^ a district judge. 
In every State there is at least one District Court, and in 
the larger States there are several. Altogether there are 
in the United States about one hundred and ten District 
Courts. 

The District Court has original jurisdiction in nearly 
all of those classes of cases, both civil and criminal, that 



THE FEDERAL /JUDICIARY 1 135^1 

f:!Mmw({mmmmj.€ ..^ «::. 

\ are tried admiralty and maritime cases, counterfeit cases, 
V copyright and patent cases, cases arising under the postal 
^ laws, under the revenue laws, under the pure-food laws, 
^ under the public-land laws, under the laws regulating im- 
* migration and naturalization, under the interstate com- 
merce laws. Cases involving controversies between citizens 
of different States may also be tried in the District Court 
when the defendant in such a case so desires. In fact, 
almost every kind of case cognizable by the authority of 
the United States is tried in the first instance in the Dis- 
trict Court. A case appealed from a District Court is car- 
ried either to the Circuit Court of Appeals or to the Su- 
preme Court. 

11. The Circuit Court of Appeals. For the trial of cer- 
tain classes of cases upon appeal. Congress has established 
nine judicial circviits, and has provided for each circuit a 
court known as the Circuit Court of Appeals.^ This court 
is composed of regular circuit judges and judges of the 
other courts, three judges being necessary for the trial of a 

case. 

The Circuit Court of Appeals, as would be inferred 
from its name, has appellate jurisdiction only. It was es- 
tablished in 1891 for the purpose of trying certain classes 
of cases that had hitherto been tried by the Supreme Court. 
With this purpose in view. Congress has provided that all 
appeals from the District Court shall be taken directly to 
the Circuit Court of Appeals, except in the five following 
instances : (1) When the case involves a question of juris- 
diction; (2) when it involves the construction of the Consti- 
tution of the United States; (3) when it involves a ques- 

iThe First Circuit consists of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island. Porto Rico. Second— Connecticut ^^ew York, ^^^Tth 
Third— Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, fourth— Maryland, ^oj*^ 
Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, ^jfth— Alabama Florid^^^^^ 
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Canal Zone. Sixth— KentiickyMiclu 
gan, Oiiio, Tennessee. Seventh— Ulinois, Indiana, Wisconsin. Eightli—Ai 
kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas Minnesota, Missouri Nebraska^ 
New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota Utah, Wyoming Ninth 
Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, 
Hawaii. 



13^ THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

tion of the constitutionality of a law; (4) when it involves 
the construction of a treaty; (5) when it involves conviction 
for higher crimes. These excepted classes of appeals must 
be taken directly from the District Court to the Supreme 
Court. In all other cases than these the appeal lies to the 
Circuit Court of Appeals. The decisions of this court ara 
made final in certain enumerated classes of cases, including 
copyright, patent, and admiralty cases, thus relieving the 
Supreme Court entirely of those cases. The cases not 
enumerated as final are still appealable to the Supreme 
Court. 

III. The Supreme Court, consisting of the Chief Justice 
and eight associate justices. This court holds its regular 
sessions in the Capitol at Washington, sitting from October 
to July. The presence of at least six judges is required in 
the trial of a case, and the judgment of a majority of the 
judges sitting at a trial is necessary in rendering a decision. 
The Chief Justice presides at the sessions of the court, but 
when the court is forming its decision he is on an equality 
with the other judges. He has but one vote, and that is 
often cast with the minority. In authority and dignity the 
Supreme Court of the United States transcends all other 
judicial tribunals. 

The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in all cases 
affecting ambassadors, ministers, and consuls, and in those 
cases in which a State is one of the parties to the contro- 
versy (110). Its appellate jurisdiction includes certain 
cases that are brought up to it from the Circuit Court of 
Appeals, and all those cases that must be brought to it 
directly from the District Court. Since there is no higher 
tribunal, a decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
States is accepted as being the law of the land. 

The Supreme Court and the Constitution. The Supreme 
Court has been called ''the guardian of the Constitution." 
Of course, the real guardian of the Constitution is the 
electorate; yet the Supreme Court may do much, and has 



THE FEDEEAL JUDICIARY .137 

done much, to preserve our fundamental law in its integ- 
rity. The place of the Supreme Court as a defender of 
the Constitution is seen in its power to declare as void 
and without force all acts that are repugnant to the Con- 
stitution. If a State law or a law of Congress seems to 
the Supreme Court to conflict with the Constitution, that 
tribunal, when a case arising under the law is brought 
before it, will declare the law unconstitutional, and its ex- 
istence will be blotted out. ''When a statute is adjudged 
to be unconstitutional, it is as if it had never been. Rights 
can not be brought up under it; contracts which depend 
upon it for their consideration are void ; it constitutes a 
protection to no one who has acted under it, and no one 
can be punished for having refused obedience to it before 
the decision was made." (Cooley.) 

When the Supreme Court declares an act of Congress 
unconstitutional, we see the judiciary undoing the work 
of the legislature, and at first sight we are inclined to 
accuse the judiciary of assuming more power than belongs 
to it. But lawyers do not take this view of the matter. 
Courts of law, whether low or high, are established to 
settle disputes between litigants. They do not seek cases, 
but wait until cases are brought to them. The Missouri 
Compromise was placed on the statute books in 1820, but 
it was not until 1857 that it was declared unconstitutional. 
When a case is brought into court, the judge must settle 
it strictly according to the law. Now, there are four kinds 
of laws in the United States, which every judge, high or 
low, must consider when rendering a decision, viz., (1) 
laws of the State, whether made by the legislature or 
through the initiative and referendum, (2) the State consti- 
tution, (3) the laws of Congress, and (4) the federal Con- 
stitution. The court, whether the Supreme Court of the 
United States or the petty town court, has these laws before 
it when it decides a case, and if there is a conflict between 
two laws the lower law must give way. If the conflict is 
between a law of Congress and the Constitution of the 



138 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

United States, the Supreme Court holds that the former 
must give way because the Constitution is the supreme law 
of the land (127). So, when the Supreme Court decides 
that a law of Congress is unconstitutional, it does only what 
a justice of the peace might do: it selects from conflicting 
laws the law of greatest authority and renders a decision in 
accordance with this highest law. There is, however, this 
great difference between a justice of the peace declaring a 
law of Congress unconstitutional and a similar decision of 
the federal Supreme Court : there is an appeal from the 
decision of the justice, but there is no appeal from the de- 
cision of the Supreme Court. 

The reasons for reposing in courts the power to declare 
acts of legislatures null and void are to be sought in the 
principles that underlie a government whose powers are 
enumerated in a written constitution. These reasons are set 
forth with wonderful clearness in a celebrated decision ^ 
of the great Marshall: ''The original and supreme will 
(the people) organizes and assigns to different departments 
their respective powers. The powers of the legislature are 
defined and limited; that these limits may not be mis- 
taken or forgotten the Constitution is written. To what 
purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that 
limitation committed to writing, if these limits may at 
any time be passed by those intended to be restrained? 
Certainly all those who have framed written constitutions 
contemplate them as the fundamental paramount law of 
the nation, and consequently the theme of every such gov- 
ernment must be that an act of the legislature repugnant 
to the constitution is void. It is emphatically the prov- 
ince and duty of the judicial department to say what the 
law is. If a law be in opposition to the Constitution the 
court must either decide the case conformably to the law 
disregarding the Constitution or conformably to the Con- 
stitution disregarding the law. The court must determine 
which of the conflicting rules governs the case. This is 

1 Marbury vs. Madison. 



THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 139 

the very essence of the judicial duty. The courts can not 
close their eyes to the Constitution and see only the law. 
This doctrine would subvert the very foundation of all 
written constitutions. It would be giving to the legisla- 
ture a practical and real omnipotence with the same breath 
which professes to restrict their powers within narrow 
limits. It is prescribing limits and declaring that these 
limits may be passed at pleasure." 

This reasoning alarmed those who were opposed to a 
strong central government, for they saw in the doctrine 
of the Chief Justice an attack not only upon the rights of 
Congress but upon the rights of the States as well. If the 
Supreme Court could set aside an act of the federal legis- 
lature, with greater ease could it set aside an act of a State 
legislature or a clause of a State constitution; and if it 
could do this, what would become of the rights of the State? 
Marshall was attacked bitterly by the opposition; but he 
stood by his guns, and in decision after decision he con- 
tinued for more than thirty years to assert the supremacy 
of the federal Constitution and to declare void any law 
that was repugnant of it. In the hundred and thirty-one 
years of its existence the Supreme Court has pronounced 
thirty-three acts of Congress and more than two hundred 
and twenty State laws to be in conflict with the Constitution. 

The Supreme Court and the People. When the Supreme 
Court renders a decision in a case, the litigants must obey 
and the whole body of the American people must com- 
pletely and peacefully acquiesce in the decision. This does 
not mean, and it ought not to be regarded as meaning, 
that the Supreme Court has the last word on any and 
every constitutional question, and that its decisions shall 
be binding forever and forever. The last word is always 
with the people. The Supreme Court, when expressing an 
opinion, simply utters the will of the people as it is ex- 
pressed in the Constitution. If the people do not like the 
sound of their own voice, if they are no longer satisfied 



140 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

with their Constitution, they can amend it. When they 
shall have amended it, the Supreme Court will instantly 
recognize the amendment as the supreme law of the land, 
and will render judgment in accordance with the letter 
and spirit of the amendment. 

Federal Courts Outside the Federal System. Exercising 
federal authority, but not a part of the federal judicial 
system described above, is the Court of Claims, established 
in 1855 for the purpose of hearing claims founded upon 
contracts made with the government of the United States. 
The judgments of this court being against a sovereign state 
can not be enforced against the government as judgments 
are enforced against private persons. They are satisfied 
out of money appropriated by Congress for the purpose. 
The Court of Claims holds its sessions in "Washington. 

Other courts outside of the regular federal system are 
the territorial courts (p. 148), and the courts that have 
been established in the District of Columbia. These are 
not the federal courts contemplated in the Constitution; 
they are ordinary law courts established by Congress in 
pursuance of its power to govern the Territories (119) and 
the District of Columbia (61). Their functions correspond 
to that of the law courts of a State (p. 175). 

Officers of the Federal Courts. Every district must be 
supplied with a district attorney, a marshal, and a clerk. 
The district attorney prosecutes and defends in the federal 
courts suits to which the United States is a party. The 
marshal is the federal sheriff (p. 184). He executes the 
judgments and orders of the court. The marshal is the 
connecting link between the judiciary and the executive. 
He acts under the order of the court, but in the name of 
the President. In the enforcement of a decision of the 
court he may call to his aid a posse of citizens and even 
the federal army. If the President should refuse to fur- 
nish the force necessary to execute a decree of the court, 



THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY 141 

he would thereby paralyze the arm of the judiciary. The 
clerk (appointed by the court) keeps a record of the pro- 
ceedings of the court. The officers of a District Court 
serve also as officers of a Circuit Court. District attorneys 
and marshals are appointed by the President. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is a criminal case? a case in equity? a case at law? 
^ATiat is meant by original jurisdiction? concurrent jurisdiction? 

2. How is the independence of the federal judiciary secured? 

3. Name the three grades of federal courts. Give an account of 
the organization and jurisdiction of each of these courts. 

4. What is the efi'ect of declaring a statute to be unconstitu- 
tional? What four kinds of laws must be considered by e\eij 
judge? What reasons were given by Marshall to sustain the power 
of the Supreme Court to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional? 
To what extent has the Supreme Court pronounced laws unconsti- 
tutional ? 

5. In what relation does the Supreme Court stand to the people? 

6. Give an account of the federal courts that are outside of the 
regular federal system. 

7. Name the officers of the federal courts and state the duties of 
each. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Consult Article III, Section 2, of the Constitution, and enu- 
merate the kinds of cases that may be tried in the federal courts. 

2. What is the number of the federal circuit that holds sessions in 
your State? What are the boundaries of this circuit? Name the 
judge of the district in which you live. 

3. What are the salaries of the judges of the several federal 
courts? Do these salaries seem to be sufficient? 

4. Thomas Jefferson proposed that the terms of the judges of the 
Supreme Court be limited to four or six years. Discuss the propo- 
sition. 

5. How many of the present judges of the Supreme Court are 
Democrats ? How many are Republicans ? Should a President, in 
appointing a judge, consider the party affiliations of the appointee? 

6. Name the Chief Justice of the federal Supreme Court and the 
eight associate justices. 

7. Give an account of two famous decisions of the Supreme Court 
of the United States. 

y^ 8. If Congress should pass a law that the people wanted and the 
■^ Supreme Court should set the law aside, what remedy have the 

people ? 

9. Explain each of the following checks and balances mentioned 

by John Adams: 



142 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

( 1 ) The House of Representatives is balanced against the 

Senate and the Senate against the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

(2) The executive authorit}^ is balanced against the legisla- 

ture. 

(3) The judiciary power is balanced against the House, the 

Senate, the executive pow^er, and the State governments. 

(4) The Senate is balanced against the President in all ap- 

pointments of office and in all treaties. 

(5) The people are balanced against their representatives by 

biennial elections. 

(6) The legislature of the several States are balanced against 

the Senate by sextennial elections. 

(7) The electors [presidential] are balanced against the peo- 

ple in the choice of President. 

10. Of the "checks and balances" mentioned above, which one is 
no longer in operation? 

Topics foe Speciax Woek 

1. The Power of the Federal Judiciary to Declare Acts of Con- 

gress Void: Johnson, 246-253. 

2. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court: Johnson, 282-290. 

3. The Term of Office in the Federal Courts: Kaye, 250-255. 

4. The Character of the Good Judge: Kaj^e, 247-250. 

5. The Judicial Power of Declaring What has the Form of Law 

Not to be Law: Kaye, 250-255. 

6. The Supreme Court and the Subordinate Courts: Munro, 357- 

37L 



XIX 

TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES 

An account of the organization of the federal government may 
appropriately be followed by an account of the governments of our 
dependent Territories. For, from the beginning of our history to 
the present, the United States has held territory that has been sub- 
ject to federal control. This chapter, therefore, will give an ac- 
count of the manner in which our dependencies are governed. 

In the treatment it will be convenient to speak of Territories and 
Dependencies, but it must not be supposed that the distinction be- 
tween a Territory and a Dependency is al^vays sharp and clear, for 
it is not. The student, however, will do well to bear in mind that 
a Territory is incorporated into and forms a part of the United 
States, while a Dependency, although belonging to the United States, 
is not necessarily an integral part of the federal Union. 

How Territories and Dependencies are Governed. All 

territory not included within the boundaries of a State, 
yet subject to the dominion of the United States, is wholly 
dependent upon Congress for its governmental powers. 
This is the fundamental principle underlying all questions 
relating to the government of territory subject to the sover- 
eignty of the United States and not included within a State. 
"The Congress," says the Constitution, "shall have power 
to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations 
respecting the territory or other property belonging to 
the United States" (119). The power of Congress over 
federal territorial possessions, of whatever kind or wherever 
located, is practically supreme : ' ' The Territories of the 
United States are entirely subject to the legislative author- 
ity of Congress. They are not organized under the Con- 
stitution nor subject to its complex distribution of powers 
of government as the organic law, but are the creation 
exclusively of the legislative department and subject to 

143 



144 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

its supervision and control. The United States, having 
rightfully acquired the Territories, and having become the 
only government that can impose laws upon them, have the 
entire domain and sovereignty, national and municipal, 
federal and State. It may legislate in accordance with the 
special needs of each locality and vary its regulations to 
meet the circumstances of the people. ... In a Territory 
all of the functions of government are within the legisla- 
tive jurisdiction of Congress."^ 

When planning for the government of federal territory 
from time to time. Congress has dealt with each case ac- 
cording to its merits. Now it has permitted a newly ac- 
quired possession to enter into an immediate enjoyment 
of Statehood; now it has provided liberally for local self- 
government ; now it , has held the reins of government 
tightly in its own hands. This policy of giving to each 
community a government suitable to its needs has led to 
the establishment of so many different kinds of govern- 
ments in the Territories and Dependencies that a satisfac- 
tory classification of them can not be made. Nevertheless, 
the inferior governments may be conveniently studied 
under two headings, namely: (1) Territories and Depen- 
dencies on the American continent, and (2) Insular Ter- 
ritories and Dependencies. 

Territories and Dependencies on the American Continent. 

These are the District of Columbia, Alaska, Indian Reser- 
vations and National Parks, and the Panama Canal strip. 
I. District of Columbia. The District of Columbia was 
ceded to the United States by Maryland and Virginia in 
1790, as the permanent seat of the federal government. 
The portion of the District granted by Virginia was after- 
ward retroceded to that State by the United States. 
Strictly speaking, the District of Columbia is neither a Ter- 
ritory nor a Dependency ; it is simply a municipal corpora- 

1 Endlemen, et al., v. United States. Quoted in Willoughby's "Territories 
and Dependencies." 



TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES 145 

tion, with such powers as are common to municipal corpora- 
tions in general. 

The government of the District of Columbia is vested by 
the Constitution exclusively in Congress (61). That 
body has provided that it be governed by a board of three 
commissioners appointed by the President. Two of the 
commissioners must be appointed from civil life, and one 
must be an officer of the army. This board not only exer- 
cises the executive power, but acts in many respects as a 
legislature. Its reasonable regulations in respect to matters 
affecting the life, health, and comfort of the people have 
the force of laws. Although Washington — ^the District 
of Columbia is but another name for the city of Washing- 
ton — has no distinct legislature of its own, it nevertheless 
enjoys the services of the greatest legislative body of the 
country; for Congress keeps its eye upon the affairs of the 
District and devotes certain days to the consideration of 
District business. When legislating for the District, Con- 
gress virtually acts as a city council, and visitors to the 
Capitol may hear Senators and Representatives discussing 
such topics of local government as the repairing of the 
streets or the regulation of trolley lines or, the adjustment 
of teachers' salaries. 

The judicial system of the District consists of a court of 
appeals, a regular trial court called the supreme court, and 
a police court for the trial of petty offenses and municipal 
regulations. Justices of peace are provided for the trial 
of certain kinds of civil cases. All of these judicial officers 
are appointed by the President. 

The government provided for the capitol city is wholly 
undemocratic in character. The citizens of Washington are 
taxed Avithout their consent or the consent of representa- 
tives. They have no voice in the making of the laws by 
which they are governed, and they have no representatives 
of any kind. The District of Columbia does not even have 
a delegate in Congress. In recent years the citizens of 
Washington have grown somewhat restive under the un- 



146 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

American plan by which they are ruled, and have been 
asking Congress for the right of local self-government. 

II. Alaska. This vast peninsula, purchased from Russia 
in 1867, was neglected until Congress in 1900 provided 
for it a code of laws and a suitable form of government. 
In 1912 Congress vested the legislative power of the Ter- 
ritory of Alaska in an elective legislature consisting of a 
Senate and a House of Representatives. The governor of 
the Territory is appointed by the President. The governor 
has the veto power, but his veto may be overruled by a 
two-thirds vote of all the members of each House. All laws 
passed by the Territorial legislature must be transmitted 
by the governor to the President of the United States and 
by him submitted to Congress. If a law of the Territorial 
legislature is disapproved by Congress it becomes null and 
void. In addition to the governor, Alaska has as its other 
executive officers a secretary of territory, a treasurer, and 
a superintendent of education. The Territory is divided 
into four judicial divisions, with a judge for each division.^ 

Alaska has a Territorial delegate in the House of Rep- 
resentatives at Washington. The delegate is the political 
tie that binds the Territory to the federal government. 
The Territorial delegate is elected every two years by 
popular vote. He has a right to a seat in the House of 
Representatives, and receives the same salary as other 
members of Congress. He serves on committees and may 
speak on all cjuestions pertaining to his Territory; but he 
has no vote. 

III. Indian Reservations and National Parks. In the 
management of the territory that has been under its control 
the national government has from time to time marked off 
and reserved certain lands for the use of the Indians. 
Scattered over the country there are in all about one hun- 
dred and sixty of these Indian reservations. Some of them 
have a very large area. The Navaho reservation, in Ari- 
zona, has an area considerably larger than the State of 
Maryland. An Indian reservation is a kind of Dependency 



TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES 147 

of the United States. The tribes living on a reservation 
are under the control of Congress. The national govern- 
ment protects the Indians on the reservation against in- 
justice at the hands of the white man, gives them food 
supplies, and supports schools among them. Indian affairs 
are under the management of the Indian Office, a bureau 
in the Department of the Interior. 

In the management of its public domain the national 
government has also set off several large tracts of land to 
be used as parks. These parks and reservations are under 
the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior. Some of 
them have an area of vast extent. The Yellowstone Na- 
tional Park, located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, has 
an area of more than 2,000,000 acres, and is much larger 
than the State of Delaware. The Glacier National Park, 
in Montana, has an area of nearly 1,000,000 acres, and is 
larger than the State of Rhode Island. Other large parks 
of this kind are the Piatt National Park, in Oklahoma ; the 
Yosemite National Park, in California; the Mount Ranier 
National Park, in Washington; the Crater National Park, 
in Oregon. Each of these parks has a resident superin- 
tendent. 

IV. The Panama Canal Strip. The Panama Canal 
Strip was acquired from the Republic of Panama in 1904. 
It consists of a zone of land of the width of ten miles, ex- 
tending to the distance of five miles on each side of the 
central line of the route of the Panama Canal. The region 
has been placed under the control of a governor, who is 
appointed by the President. The canal itself is absolutely 
neutral, being free and open to the vessels of commerce 
and war of all nations. The toll rates on the canal are the 
saane for the vessels of all nations; and the vessels of no 
nation, not even those of the United States, are exempted 
from the payment of tolls. It is provided by treaties that 
the canal shall never be blockaded and that no act of 
hostility shall ever be committed in it. War-ships must 
pass through the canal with the least possible delay, and 



148 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

no belligerent vessel while in the canal may embark or 
disembark troops or munitions of war. 

Insular Territories and Dependencies. These are : Hawaii, 
annexed by a joint resolution of Congress in 1898 (July 7) ; 
Porto Rico, occupied July 25, 1898, by military forces of 
the United States under General Miles; the Philippine Is- 
lands, occupied August 13, 1898, by military forces under 
Admiral Dewey; Guam, seized by the United States navy 
during the war with Spain in 1898; certain islands of the 
Samoan group acquired by treaty in 1900 ; and the Virgin 
Islands, purchased from Denmark in 1917. 

I. Hawaii. The Hawaiian Islands are governed, under 
the name of the ''Territory of Hawaii," by an act of Con- 
gress passed in 1900. The act provides for a territorial 
form of government consisting of a legislative, an executive, 
and a judicial department. The legislature consists of a 
senate and a house of representatives whose members are 
elected by the voters of Hawaii. The executive power is 
lodged in a governor and a territorial secretary appointed 
by the President. An attorney-general, a treasurer, a 
superintendent of public instruction, an auditor, and 
several other administrative officers are appointed by the 
governor and confirmed by the senate of Hawaii. The 
Territorial courts consist of a supreme court and circuit 
courts, the judges of which are appointed by the President. 
Hawaii is represented in Congress by a delegate who is 
elected biennially by the people. The act annexing Hawaii 
conferred upon the citizens of Hawaii the rights of citizens 
of the United States. 

II. Porto Rico. The organic act establishing the present 
government of the island of Porto Rico was passed by Con- 
gress in 1917. The act contains a bill of rights which ac- 
cords to the citizens of Porto Rico civil rights similar to 
those enjoyed by citizens of the United States. Legislative 
power in the island is vested in a legislature consisting of 



TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES 149 

a senate and a house of representatives. Both senators 
and representatives are elected by the voters. A law 
passed by the legislature may be vetoed by the governor, 
but the veto may be overruled, and if it is overruled the 
law is sent to the President for approval or disapproval. 
The executive power in the island is vested in a governor 
appointed by the President. The President also appoints 
an attorney-general and a commissioner of education. A 
treasurer, a commissioner of the interior, a commissioner of 
agriculture and labor, and a commissioner of health are ap- 
pointed by the governor. 

The judicial system of the island consists of a supreme 
court composed of judges appointed for life or good be- 
havior by the President ; of district courts presided over by 
judges appointed by the governor ; and of municipal courts 
whose judges are elected by the people. 

The organic act of Porto Rico provides that the voters 
of the island every two jears shall elect a commissioner, 
who shall be entitled to official recognition as such by all 
the departments at Washington. This commissioner, in 
the intention of the law, is plainly not a delegate ; yet, by 
the grace of the House of Representatives, he has been 
accorded the right to speak in that body and to serve on 
its committees. For all practical purposes, therefore, he 
is in reality a Territorial delegate, although Porto Rico 
can hardly be said to be a Territory, for it is hardly an in- 
tegral part of the United States. Under the act of 1917, 
inhabitants of Porto Rico not citizens of a foreign country 
were declared to be citizens of the United States. 

III. Philippine Islands. In February, 1899, after the 
Philippine Islands had been ceded to the United States by 
the Treaty of Paris, the following resolution was passed 
by Congress: 

Resolved, etc., That by the ratification of the treaty of peace with 
Spain, it is not intended to incorporate the inhabitants of the Philip- 
pine Islands into citizenship of the United States, nor is it intended 



150 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

to permanently annex said islands as an integral part of the terri- 
tory of the United States; but it is the intention of the United 
States to establish in said islands a government suitable to the 
wants and conditions of the inhabitants of said islands, to prepare 
them for self-government, and in due time to make such disposition 
of said islands as will best promote the interests of the citizens of 
the United States and the inhabitants of said islands. 

In accordance with the spirit of the above resolution, 
Congress has given to the Filipinos the form of government 
that has seemed best suited to their needs, changing the 
form from time to time as conditions on the islands have 
changed. At present (1920) the legislative power in the 
Philippines is vested in the Philippine legislature, which 
consists of two houses, a senate and a house of representa- 
tives. Both senators and representatives are elected by 
the qualified voters. The members of both Houses of the 
legislature must be residents of the islands. Any law en- 
acted by the legislature must be affirmed by the governor- 
general, who may veto a law, but whose veto may be over- 
ruled by the legislature. A law passed over the head of the 
governor-general is sent to the President for approval or 
disapproval. If the President approves, it becomes a law ; 
if not, it does not become a law. The executive power in 
the islands is vested in the governor-general of the Philip- 
pine Islands, an officer appointed by the President. The 
President also appoints a vice-governor, who is the head of 
the dei^artment of education, and an auditor, who keeps the 
government's accounts. 

The Philippine Islands have no delegate in Congress, 3^et 
they are permitted to send to • Washington two commis- 
sioners, who appear before the committees of Congress and 
represent the interests of the islands. 

The judicial system of the islands includes a supreme 
court, consisting of a chief justice and six associate justices, 
courts of general trial for the i^rovinces, and justices' 
courts for the municipalities. The judges of the supreme 
court are appointed by the President of the United States, 
but the judges of the provincial courts and the justices of 



TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES 151 

the peace are appointed by the governor of the island. 
Cases may be carried by appeal from the supreme court of 
the island to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

The archipelago is divided for governmental purposes 
into provinces, and the provinces into municipalities. Each 
province has a governor, a secretary, a treasurer, and a 
supervisor of public buildings, roads, bridges, and ferries. 
The provincial officers, with the exception of the governor, 
are appointed by the commission. The municipality has a 
mayor and a body of municipal councilors elected by the 
qualified voters of the municipality. These municipal 
councilors elect the governor of the province. In respect to 
local affairs government in the Philippines is of the cen- 
tralized type; for the commission has large control over 
the province, and the province has large control over the 
municipality. 

IV. Guam and Samoa {Tutuila). Governmental power 
in the islands of Guam and Samoa is vested in the naval 
officers who happen to be in command of the naval station. 
As a matter of fact, the inhabitants of the islands in a large 
degree govern themselves. At times, however, it is neces- 
sary for the naval officer to interpose his authority, and 
upon such occasions his orders have the force of laws. 

V. Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands were acquired as 
a base for naval operations, and are under the direct con- 
trol of the Navy Department. 

Attitude of the United States toward Its Dependencies. 

The extension of our political influence into Porto Rico 
and the Philippines was perhaps an unavoidable incident 
in our growth as a nation. Certainly, for good or for evil, 
we have made these islands our wards, and our duty in 
respect to them ought to be clear: we ought to administer 
their affairs, not with a view to our own advancement, but 
with a view to their advancement and profit. Such a policy 
is in accordance with the American spirit. The United 
States has always been the possessor of large regions of 



152 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

dependent territory, but it has never oppressed its depend- 
encies, and has never regarded them as fields to be ex- 
ploited for the sole benefit of citizens at home. It has al- 
ways promoted the welfare of its wards, and accorded to 
them as large a measure of self-government as was prac- 
ticable. This has been our policy in the past, is our avowed 
policy now, and will continue to be our policy as long as 
we are true to our best political instincts. 

Questions on the Text 

1. To what extent has Congress power over Territories and De- 
pendencies? How has it used this power? 

2. Name the Territories and Dependencies on the American con- 
tinent. 

3. Give an account of the government of the District of Colum- 
bia; of Alaska; of the Panama Canal Strip; of the Indian Reser- 
vations and the National Parks. 

4. Name the insular Territories and Dependencies. 

5. Describe the government of Hawaii; of Porto Eico; of the 
Philippine Islands; of Guam and Samoa. 

6. Describe the attitude maintained by the United States toward 
its dependencies. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Name the Territories properly so called; name the Dependen- 
cies. 

2. Prepare a table showing the population and area of each of 
the Territories and Dependencies and give the totals. 

3. Name the Territories in the order in which they are likely to 
be admitted as States. 

4. What does the Constitution say about Indians? 

5. Why was the capital of the United States placed under the 
exclusive control of Congress? 

6. Prepare a paper about the city of Washington, giving the 
municipal history of the city, and describing its public buildings, its 
monuments, and its environs. 

7. What measures are usually taken by Congress for the admis- 
sion of a Territory into the Union? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Power to Acquire Territory and to Govern Acquired Terri- 

tory: Johnson, 236-245. 

2. The Gt)vernment of Federal Territories: Johnson, 142-150. 

3. The Power of Congress over Territories: Beard, 417-420. 

4. The Government of Territories: Munro, 372-388. 



XX 

THE STATE LEGISLATURE 

Having described the organization of the federal government, we 
may now pass to the organization of the State. The subject of State 
organization involves a study of (1) the State legislature; (2) the 
State executive; and (3) the State judiciary. In this chapter we 
shall study the State legislature. 

General Features of State Legislatures. In outward 
form, at least, the legislature of one State, although it may 
be widely separated by distance, and although it is created 
independently, is very much like that of another State. 
All legislatures meet at the State capitol. The upper house 
is always called the senate, and its membership is always 
smaller than that of the lower house, which is usually called 
the house of representatives. The term of members of the 
house of representatives is usually two years, while the 
term of senators is usually four years. In all of the States 
members reside in the district that they represent ; in nearly 
all of the States the legislature meets every two years, the 
sessions beginning usually in January; in all of the States 
the compensation of members is the same for both houses; 
in forty-seven States a law passed by the legislature can 
be vetoed by the governor, and the veto can be overcome 
by a majority vote, or by a three-fifths or two-thirds vote 
of both houses; in every State each house is the judge of 
the qualifications and election of its own members ; in 
nearly every State members, whether of the senate or of 
the house, are apportioned according to population. 

Passage of Bills. Upon assembling, each House of a 
newly elected legislature elects its presiding officer. In 

153 



154 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the lower house this officer is called the speaker; in the 
senate he is called chairman or president. In many of the 
States there is a lieutenant-governor, who presides in the 
Senate but does not vote except when there is a tie. As soon 
as a clerk, a sergeant-at-arms, doorkeepers, messengers, and 
other minor officers have been elected, the presiding officer 
of each House announces the committees, which are as 
numerous as the interests and subjects that engage the 
attention of the legislature, the most important being those 
on finance, corporations, municipalities, the judiciary, 
appropriations, elections, education, labor, manufactures, 
agriculture, railroads. The committees are agencies of the 
utmost importance, for they are the channels through 
which all legislation must pass. 

Any proposed law, called a bill, immediately after it is 
introduced and read, is referred to its proper committee. 
The committee considers the bill in a private room, where 
citizens may appear to defend or oppose it, and if it thinks 
the bill ought not to become a law it reports it unfavorably, 
and thus usually kills it. It is possible to pass a bill after 
it has been thus unfavorably reported, but this is rarely 
done. The judgment of the committee is practically final. 
If the bill is reported favorably, its title is read and it is 
allowed to pass upon its second reading. In its regular 
order it comes up for its third and last reading. Now it 
is read in full, amended perhaps, and voted upon. If it 
fails to get a majority of the votes, that is probably the 
last of it. If it receives a majority of the votes, it is sent 
to the other branch to be acted upon. 

Here it is referred by the presiding officer to its proper 
committee, is read three times upon three different days, 
is fully discussed upon its last reading, and is then voted 
upon. If it passes without amendments made in this 
second branch, it goes to the governor to be signed by him. 
If it passes with amendment, it must be returned to the 
House in which it originated to be voted upon in its amended 
form. If it passes in the House in that form, it becomes, 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 155 

as far as the legislature is concerned, a law. If there is 
trouble over the amendment, a joint committee, or con- 
ference committee, consisting of a small group of members 
from each House, is appointed to see what can be done to 
settle the matter. The action of this committee, if it reaches 
an agreement, is usually accepted by both Houses. A bill 
may originate in either House, but, as a rule, bills for rais- 
ing revenue must originate in the Lower House, because this 
branch is supposed to be closer to the taxpayers. 

After a bill has passed both Houses it is sent to the 
governor for his approval. In order to guard against 
hasty and unwise legislation, and especially against en- 
croachments of the legislature upon the other two depart- 
ments, the governor, like the President of the United States, 
can (in all but one State) forbid the passage of a bill by 
his veto. When he does this he sends the bill back, with his 
objections stated in writing, to that branch of the legisla- 
ture that sent it to him. The returned bill may be voted 
upon again, and if it can secure the number of votes re- 
quired by the constitution in such cases, it becomes a law 
in spite of the governor 's veto. 

Importance of State Legislation. We have seen how 
wide is the range of power reserved to the State govern- 
ment (p. 55). The State legislature determines how these 
powers are to be exercised. The only limitations of its 
power are those imposed by the constitution of the State, 
and by the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United 
States (127). Within these limits it is at liberty to enact 
laws upon any subject that may come within the scope of 
governmental authority. The powers of Congress are 
enumerated ; the powers of a State legislature are innumer- 
able. When we say that a State legislature grants char- 
ters to cities, boroughs, towns, villages, railroads, banks, 
colleges, seminaries, and other institutions public and 
private; that it defines the boundaries of counties and 
towns ; that it regulates taxes, licenses, fees ; that it enacts 



156 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

punishment for treason, murder, arson, theft, kidnapping, 
briber}', forgery, fraud, perjury, and other crimes; that it 
makes laws concerning the sale of land, the giving of 
mortgages, the granting of deeds, the making of wills, the 
settlement of the estates of bankrupts, the management 
of the estates of the dead; concerning education, charity, 
health, marriage, divorce; concerning voting and elec- 
tions; concerning railroads, steamboats, canals, telegraph 
and telephone companies; concerning farming, fishing, 
mining', manufacturing, trading — when we say this much 
of the legislature, we may make it plain that its authority 
is very great, but we by no means exhaust the list of 
things it does. 

The State Legislature and the State Constitution. There 
has been a tendency in recent years to strip the legislature 
of some of its power by inserting into the constitution, either 
by way of amendment or in constitutional convention, spe- 
cific restrictive provisions concerning matters with which 
legislatures should be free to deal in the manner best suited 
to the necessities of the moment. The constitution of one 
State prescribes to the legislature how it shall purchase its 
stationery, as if this body could not be trusted to do this 
wisely. It is quite certain that a constitution is not the 
place for such special provisions. A constitution should 
mark out a path for legislation, but should not contain the 
laws themselves. A legislature should be restrained by the 
-constitution in all fundamental matters, in all matters 
that involve the framework of government and the prin- 
ciples of civil liberty; but in all other matters it should 
be given a wide discretion. Frequently a legislature is so 
hampered by the constitution that it cannot pass needful 
laws. When this is the case there have been placed in the 
constitution items of a non-constitutional nature. 

These details are placed in the constitution beyond the 
rcacn of the legislature because of the distrust that has 
overtaken that body. For many years, in private con- 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 157 

yersation, in newspapers and in books, on the platform and 
in the pulpit, law-makers have been denounced as grasp- 
ing, stupid, and corrupt. It has become almost a fixed 
habit for the American people to abuse their legislatures. 
The habit is unreasonable and unjust : unreasonable be- 
cause the legislatures, taking them one after another 
through a considerable period of time, fairly represent the 
people who elect them ; unjust because, as a matter of fact, 
no legislature is largely stupid or corrupt. In all legisla- 
tures the average ability of membership is high, and in 
the worst legislature an overwhelming majority of the 
members are honest men. 

But it ought not to be understood that all the criticism 
that is directed against our legislatures is unmerited,. 
For there is a dark side to their proceedings. Too often 
they are subjected to the malign influence of corrupt lobby- 
ists, men who frequent the legislative halls for the pur- 
pose of persuading the law-makers, by giWng them bribes 
or by offering other improper inducements, to vote for 
bills designed to promote purely selfish interests. Then, 
too, it is regrettable that the legislator often indulges in 
the bad practice called "log-rolling." In pioneer days, 
when a settler had a great number of logs to be rolled to- 
gether and burned in a heap, he would say to his neigh- 
bors, ''You help me to roll my logs, and I will help you to 
roll yours." So, in the legislature, one member often saj^s 
to another, "You help me to pass my bill, and I will help 
you to pass j^ours"; and a scheme of mutual assistance is 
agreed upon. Too frequently this log-rolling process re- 
sults in vicious legislation and in a sacrifice of the public 
welfare. 

Direct Legislation; Initiative and Referendum. As a 

remedy for the real and supposed shortcomings of the 
legislatures, there has been brought into use in many States 
a political device by which the people may themselves en- 
gage, personally and directly, in the business of law-mak- 



158 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ing. This device is known as the initiative and referendum. 
The nature of the power that the people may exert through 
the initiative and referendum may best be learned from a 
clause in the constitution of one of the States, in which a 
system of direct legislation is in full force: 

The legislative authority of this State shall be vested in a legis- 
lature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives; but 
the people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and 
amendments to the constitution, and to adopt or reject the same at 
the polls, independent of the legislature, and also reserve power at 
their own option to approve or reject at the polls any act of the 
legislature. . . . The first power reserved to the people is the Initia- 
tive, and 8 per cent, of the legal voters shall have the right to pro- 
pose any measure, and 15 per cent, of the legal voters shall have the 
right to propose amendments to the constitution, by petition, and 
every such petition shall include the full text of the measure pro- 
posed. The second power is the Referendum, and it may be ordered 
(except as to laws necessary for the immediate preservation of the 
public peace, health, or safety) either by petition signed by 5 per 
cent, of the legal voters or by the legislature as other bills are 
enacted. . . . The veto power of the governor shall not extend to 
measures voted upon by the people. . . . Any measure referred to the 
people by the initiative [or the referendum] shall take effect and 
be in force when it shall have been approved by a majority of votes 
cast in such election. . . . The referendum may be demanded by 
the people against one or more items, sections, or parts of any act 
of the legislature, in the same manner in which such power may be 
exercised against a complete act. 

The constitutional clause just quoted shows that the 
device of the initiative and referendum gives life and 
power to the old right of petition (p. 80). If a con- 
siderable number of voters (usually from 5 to 8 per cent.) 
in any State desire a certain law, the initiative enables them 
by petition to bring the measure before the electorate to be 
voted upon. If a considerable number of voters are op- 
posed to a law passed by the legislature, the referendum 
enables them to have the law referred to the decision of 
the electorate. Thus the initiative is a positive or con- 
structive force: it enables the voters to secure what they 
want. The referendum is a negative or preventive force: 
it enables voters to veto laws that they do not want. 

The initiative and referendum, in one form or another, 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 159 

has been adopted in South Dakota, Oregon, Montana, 
Oklahoma, Maine, Missouri, Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, 
New Mexico,^ California, Nevada, Michigan, Ohio, Ne- 
braska, Utah, Washington, Idaho, North Dakota, Kansas, 
Louisiana, Massachusetts, and Maryland.^ 

In several of the States direct legislation has been put 
to an exhaustive test and has proved to be a success. In 
all of them it is a ' ' gun behind the door to be used in case 
of emergency." But it is never an automatic gun. The 
initiative and referendum is a democratic device that will 
not work at all until the people bestir themselves and take 
it into their hands and work it. The advantages of direct 
legislation are many, but they can be enjoyed only in those 
States where the people by instinct and tradition are in- 
tensely democratic, where the popular interest in public 
affairs is keen, universal, and sustained, and where the 
average of popular intelligence is very high. 

Questions on the Text 

1. In what respects do the legislatures of the different States 
resemble each other? 

2. Give a general account of the organization of a State legis- 
lature, 

3. How does a bill become a law? 

4. Upon what subjects may the legislature pass laws? 

5. In what way is the action of legislation sometimes hampered? 
Why is this unfortunate? 

6. What can you say of the popular distrust that has overtaken 
our legislatures? Name two evils connected with law-making. 

7. What is the initiative and referendum? To what extent is 
direct legislation brought into use? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

(Answers to many questions in this chapter and also in several of 
the following chapters may be found in the State constitution.) 

1. What is the name of the lower house of the legislature of this 
State? What is the name of the legislature taken as a Avhole? 
Where and how often does the legislature meet? 

2. What are the qualifications of senators in this State as to 
age, citizenship, and residence? What are the qualifications of 
members of the Lower House? Under what circumstances is a per- 

1 New Mexico and Maryland have the referendum but not the initiative. 



160 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

son disqualified for membership in the legislature? What pay do 
the members of tbe legislature receive for their services? 

3. What is the nature of the oath taken by a member of the legis- 
lature in this State? 

4. What provision does the constitution make in respect to the 
number of senators? In what manner are the senators apportioned 
to the cities and counties? What provision is made in respect to 
the number of representatives? How are they apportioned to the 
cities and counties? Is there any question as to the fairness of this 
method of apportionment in this State? If the method is unjust, 
how may a remedy be found? 

5. Descril)e the manner in Avhich each of the Houses is called to 
order and organized on the first day of a session. What constitutes 
a quorum in each House? How may a person who is disorderly or 
disrespectful in the presence of the senate or the Lower House be 
punished? Does the legislature sit in secret or in open session? 

6. In whose name are the laws of the State enacted? Describe 
the passage of a bill from the time it is introduced until it becomes 
a law. To what extent is the initiative and referendum recognized 
in the constitution of the State? 

7. (In many States the constitution forbids the legislature to 
pass special laws in reference to certain enumerated subjects; that 
is, when it passes a law in reference to any one of such subjects the 
law must operate not upon certain specified individuals or localities, 
but must be uniform in its operation throughout tbe State.) Name 
the subjects upon which the legislature of this State is not per- 
mitted to pass special laws. 

8. Describe the process of impeachment in this State. How may 
a member of the legislature be punished for unfaithful service? 

9. What general prohibitions are placed upon tbe powers of the 
legislature of this State by the constitution? Does it seem that 
some of these prohibitions are unreasonable? 

10. Bound the senatorial district in which you live and name 
your State senator. 

11. Is the capital of this State conveniently located? How can 
its location be changed? 

12. Discuss fully each of the following sentences: (a) For good 
or for evil, the legislature affects us in almost every relation of daily 
life. (6) When the people generally condemn their legislators they 
virtually condemn themselves, (c) We can not elect able and skil- 
ful legislators; we can elect able and prudent men and reelect them 
until they become able and skilful legislators, (d) The position of 
the law-maker is a difficult one, for he must try to promote the inter- 
est of his locality and also the general welfare, and these often 
clash, (e) When we hear that legislators have received bribes, a 
part of our indignation should be hurled against those who have 
given bribes. 

13. If direct legislation is in operation in this State, answer the 
following questions: In what year was the initiative and refer- 
endum adopted ? What per cent, of the voters is required for setting 
in motion the ipitiative where a law is asked for? Can the consti- 



THE STATE LEGISLATURE 161 

tution be amended through the initiative? If so, what per cent, of 
voters is required ? What per cent, of the voters is required for set- 
ting in motion a referendum? Is the initiative and referendum a 
success in this State? Name the good features of direct legislation. 
Is direct legislation consistent with representative democracy? 

14. What is a legislative reference bureau? Has the legislature 
of this State such a bureau? 

15. In many States there is published by State authority a State 
Manual or Year-Book. A copy of this Manual ought to be available 
for class use. It can probably be secured by writing to the Secre- 
tary of State at the State capital. 

Topics for Special Work 

1. Legislation by the Electorate: Holcombe, 401-441. 

2. The State Legislatures: Holcombe, 240-278. 

3. Direct Legislation: Jones, 338-351. 

4. The Lobby: Keinsch, 79-84. 

5. Methods of Legislation: Eeinsch, 74-79. 

6. The Functions of Legislatures: Gettell, 357. 



XXI 
THE STATE EXECUTIVE 

In every State there is a State executive department, organized to 
carry out the provisions of the constitution and the laws of the 
legislature. What, in general, are the characteristic features of the 
executive department of a State government, and what are the out- 
lines of its organization? 

Decentralization of Executive Power in the State. The 

administration of affairs that come within the power of the 
State government differs widely from the administration of 
national affairs. In the executive department of the 
federal government power is consolidated, centralized; al- 
most everything is in the hands of the President. He ap- 
points the heads of the departments and, directly or in- 
directly, all subordinate officers. His responsibility, is of 
course, as great as his power. If the administration of the 
affairs of the United States is successful the President re- 
ceives the credit; if it is ill-fated he receives the censure. 
It is not thus in the State. Here power in the executive 
branch is scattered, decentralized. The execution of the 
laws of a State is not given to one person or to one body 
of persons, but is intrusted to various officials and various 
bodies. The greater part of governmental business in a 
State is not administered by State officers at all, but by 
local governments — cities and counties and townships and 
villages. State laws that pertain to special branches of 
administration are distributed to many different State of- 
ficers and boards to be executed ; and very often these of- 
ficers and boards are elected by the people and are not 
responsible for their conduct to an authority that is higher 
than themselves. Thus there are engaged in the execu- 

162 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE 163 

tion of the laws of the State many different officers, each 
independent of the others and each standing on his own 
statute. The highest officer himself (the governor) has 
been called the captain of a ship of state that is managed 
by a crew he does not select and over which he has few 
powers of command. 

Chief State Executive Officers. The officers whose duties 
consist in carrying out the laws pertaining to State ad- 
ministration constitute the executive department of the 
State. Since this department is organized according to 
the particular needs of each State, we are prepared to find 
it differing in its details in the several States. The out- 
lines of the executive department, nevertheless, are nearly 
the same in all of the States. Every State has a governor 
(thirty-three States have a lieutenant-governor), a sec- 
retary of state, and a treasurer; almost every State has a 
comptroller, or auditor, an attorney-general, and a super- 
intendent of education. The length of the terms of service 
of these officers, the manner of their election or appoint- 
ment, and their qualifications and salaries are regulated by 
the constitution or by statute. Their duties, which do not 
vary widely from State to State, are as follows : 

I. The Governor. (1) The first duty of the governor 
is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. This 
may mean much or little. In reference to private law, the 
law that regulates the relations between man and man, and 
in reference to the peace and good order of the State, it 
means much ; for the governor is commander-in-chief of 
the military forces of the State, and he can call upon the 
soldiers to assist him in enforcing the judgment of a court 
or in suppressing riots and disorderly proceedings (p. 252). 
In reference to the laws regulating the business of the 
special departments it frequently means but little; for, as 
we have seen, the officers of these departments are often 
elected independently of the governor and arc themselves 
the authorized executors of the laws relating to their respec- 



164 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

tive departments, and whether they administer the law well 
or ill the governor has no control over them. 

(2) Another duty of the governor is to transmit to the 
legislature a message, informing it of the condition of af- 
fairs within the State and suggesting such legislation as 
he may deem wise. The legislature, however, is not bound 
to follow the suggestions made in the message or even to 
consider them. If the legislature is not in session and the 
governor thinks certain legislation urgent, he may summon 
it to meet in extra session and lay before it the measures 
that demand immediate consideration. 

(3) In many States the governor has the pardoning 
power, which it is his duty to exercise when he thinks a 
person has been unjustly convicted of crime. His pardon 
may be absolute or he may commute the punishment. For 
good reason he may grant reprieves. In a few States the 
power of pardon, commutation, and reprieve 4s not left to 
the governor, but is vested in a special body of officers 
known as the board of pardons. 

(4) In every State it is the duty of the governor to ap- 
point many officials whose selection is not otherwise pro- 
vided for. When an elective official dies or resigns before 
his term ends, the governor fills the vacancy by appoint- 
ing some one to serve until another election is held. When 
vacancies occur in the representation of the State in Con- 
gress, he issues writs for a new election (12, 162). In the 
case of a vacancy in the Senate he may make a temporary 
appointment, if so authorized by the legislature (162). 

(5) It is the duty of the governor to check hasty or cor- 
rupt or unwise legislation by interposing his veto, a power 
given to the chief executive in all of the States except one. 
It is in the veto and in the power of appointment that the 
governor finds most of his strength as a leader. His power 
to veto a measure often enables him to hold a whip over 
the legislature. ''Many bills," says Holcombe, "which 
it is known the governor will not approve will not be 
adopted by the legislature, or will be amended, in the hope 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE 165 

of removing the ground of executive disapproval. Legisla- 
tors may even support measures known to be favored by the 
executive in order to avoid executive disapproval of private 
and local bills in which they may be especially interested. 
Since the effectiveness of the veto power is a matter of 
common knowledge, the promoters of legislation often seek 
executive approval of proposed legislation before its intro- 
duction into the legislature. ' ' ^ 

(6) The governor performs numerous duties of a social 
nature. He opens fairs, dedicates public buildings, pre- 
sents diplomas to the graduates of normal schools and col- 
leges, and honors impo'rtant celebrations and meetings 
with his presence. 

II. The Lieutenant -Governor. This officer serves when 
the governor is out of the State or is incapacitated for duty. 
He is ex officio president of the senate, and when a vacancy 
occurs in the governorship he succeeds to the office. In 
those States where there is no lieutenant-governor the 
president of the senate usually succeeds to the governor- 
ship in case of a vacancy. 

III. The Secretary of State records the official acts of 
the governor and files the laws passed by the legislature. 
He has charge of all State papers, of the journals of the 
legislature, and of the historical documents, statuary, paint- 
ings, relics, etc., owned by the State. This officer may 
properly be called the chief clerk of the executive depart- 
ment. 

IV. The State Comptroller (or Auditor) manages the 
financial business of the State. He prepares plans for the 
improvement and management of revenue, reports esti- 
mates of the revenue and expenditures of the State, and 
enforces the prompt collection of taxes. He keeps an ac- 
count of all the money paid into the treasury and all drawn 
from it. Not a dollar can be taken from the treasury with- 
out his order. As a rule, it is his duty to see that those 
charged with the collection of revenue of the State are 

1 A. N. Holcombe, State Governments in the United States, p. 329. 



166 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

responsible persons and are properly bonded. In a few 
States the comptroller serves on one or more State boards. 

V. The State Treasurer has in his keeping the money 
paid into the State treasury. His principal dnties are to 
receive the State funds, place them where they will be 
safe, and pay them out as he is ordered by the comptroller. 
Like the comptroller, the treasurer sometimes serves upon 
State boards. 

YI. The Attorney-General is the law officer of the 
State. He appears in court for the State when it needs the 
service of a lawyer, and he gives legal advice to executive 
officers when he is called upon to do so. 

VII. The Superintendent of Ptiblic Instruction stands 
at the head of the public-school system of the State. He 
reports to the governor or to the legislature the condi- 
tion of educational affairs throughout the State, visits 
teachers' institutes and other educational meetings, de- 
livers lectures upon educational topics, inspects schools, sug- 
gests methods of teaching and courses of instruction, and 
promotes the cause of education in many ways. In some 
States he prescribes the qualifications of teachers and issues 
their certificates, and supervises the distribution of the 
school funds. In a few States the executive authority in 
reference to the public schools is vested in a State board 
of education. Where this is the case the superintendent of 
instruction is simply an agent of the board. 

The foregoing officers are found in almost every State. 
The governor and the lieutenant-governor — where there is 
one^ — are elected by the people always, and the attorney- 
general, secretary of State, treasurer, and auditor nearly 
always. Officers not elected by popular vote are in some 
eases appointed by the governor and in other cases chosen 
by the legislature. 

Other Executive and Administrative Officers. In addi- 
tion to the principal State officers whose duties have 
just been described, there are in many States still other 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE 



167 



executive and administrative officers and boards; for each 
State has such an organization as is required by its special 
needs. A list of the most important of these additional 
officers follows, the nature of their duties being suggested 
by their titles: 



(1 
(2 
(3 
(4 
(5 
(6 
(7 
(8 
(9 
(10 

(11 
(12 

(13 
(14 
(15 
(16 
(17 
(18 
(19 
(20 
(21 
(22 



State Insurance Commissioner. 

State Commissioner of Agriculture. 

State Board of Public Utilities. 

State Tax Commissioner. 

State Highway Commissioner. 

State Railroad Commissioner. 

State Board of Charities. 

State Board of Education. 

State Factory Inspector. 

State Labor Commissioner. 

State Board of Public Works. 

State Board of Health. 

State Board of Medical Examiners. 

State Board of Pardons. 

Adjutant-General. 

State Inspector of Mines. 

State Commissioner of Fisheries. 

State Commissioner of Navigation. 

State Hygiene Physician. 

State Fire Marshal. 

State Board of Bank Examiners. 

State Industrial Board. 



No State has every one of the above officers, but every 
State has a few of them. As in the case of the principal 
executive officers, so in the case of these others, the method 
of choice varies : sometimes the people elect ; in most cases 
the governor appoints; and in a few cases the legislature 
elects. Besides the major and minor officials there are in 
the services of the State such assistants, secretaries, 
stenographers, clerks, librarians, and employees of various 



168 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

kinds as may be necessary for the efficient working of the 
several departments. In large and populous States, sncli 
as New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, the em- 
ployees of the State government are numbered by the 
thousands. 

Consolidation of State Administrative Offices. In order 
to secure economy and efficiency in the management of 
the affairs of the State government, there is a tendency in 
an increasing number of States to consolidate the adminis- 
trative offices into a few coordinate departments with heads 
appointed by the governor and responsible to him. For 
example, in Illinois more than one hundred and twenty- 
five boards, commissions, and independent agencies have 
been organized and consolidated into nine great depart- 
ments: namely, finance, agriculture, labor, mines and 
minerals, public works, public welfare, public health, trade 
and commerce, and registration and education. At the 
head of each department is a director appointed by the 
governor with the approval of the senate. After two 
years of experience the governor of Illinois, speaking of 
the consolidation plan, said: ''It has more than justified all 
the expectations that were formed concerning it. Unity 
and harmony of administration have been attained and 
vigor and energy of administration enhanced." Idaho, 
Nebraska, and J\lassachusetts have governments organized 
on the consolidated plan, while the governors in a num- 
ber of States, notably those of Indiana, Vermont, North 
Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, and North Dakota, 
have recommended to their legislatures the consolidation of 
the State administrative offices. 

Eemoval of State Officers. rThe usual method of removing 
State officers is to resort to the process of impeachment. 
For corrupt conduct in office, or for crimes and misde- 
meanors, any State officer may be impeached by the house 
of representatives. The impeachment is tried by the sen- 



K O 

(A ^ 




169 



170 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ate, where the concurrence of two thirds of the members 
elected is necessary for conviction. Judgment in case of 
impeachment extends no further than removal from office ; 
but the officer convicted is liable to be brought into court 
and tried for his offenses according to law. The process of 
impeachment plays no important part in State affairs. It 
is sometimes brought into use for the removal of un- 
worthy governors, yet in our entire history there have been 
only eight cases of the impeachment of governors. 

In Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado, 
Louisiana, Arizona, California, Washington, and Kansas, 
State officers may be removed by the device known as the 
recall, although in four of these States (Michigan, Louisi- 
ana, Idaho, and Washington) the device does not apply to 
judges. The aim of the recall is to give the people com- 
plete control over the officers whom they have elected. 
Where the recall is in use, the voters, upon the complaint or 
petition of a certain number of citizens, say 20 or 25 per 
cent, of the voting population, vote upon the question 
whether a certain officer shall be deprived of (recalled 
from) his office before the end of his term. When an 
officer is removed by the operation of the recall, the 
vacancy is filled by holding a special election, at which the 
officer removed may be a candidate if he so desire. The 
recall is a mild form of impeachment. In the case of 
impeachment the accused officer is tried by the legislature ; 
under the procedure of the recall the accused is tried by 
the whole body of voters. The recall is seldom brought 
into use; yet, like the initiative and the referendum, it 
serves the purpose of a "gun behind the dcor for use in 
emergencies." 

Questions on the Text 

1. Contrast federal executive power with State executive power. 

2. Name the State officials that are found in almost every State. 

3. What are the duties of the governor? Discuss fully the sub- 
ject of the veto power. 

4. What are the duties of the lieutenant-governor? of the secre- 



THE STATE EXECUTIVE 171 

tary of State? of the State comptroller (or auditor) ? of the State 
treasurer? of the attorney-general? of the superintendent of public 
instruction? How are these officials chosen? 

5. Name some of the other executive and administrative officials. 

6. What has been done in the way of consolidating State admin- 
istrative agencies? 

7. Describe the process of impeachment. Describe the recall. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Which of the higher officials of this State mentioned in the 
text derive their authority from the constitution? From what 
sources do the others derive their authority ? 

2. State the qualifications, term of office, salary, and chief duties 
of the several State officials provided for in the constitution; also 
state which of these are elected by the people and which are ap- 
pointed. 

3. Which of the additional officials mentioned in the text are found 
in this State? Why do not all the States have officials of the same 
character ? 

4. Has the governor of this State the veto power? If so, how 
may his veto be overcome? 

5. Under what circumstances may the governor remove an official? 

6. Is the tendency in this State to give much or little power to 
the governor ? Is this tendency fortunate or unfortunate ? 

7. Name the chief executive officials of this State. In what sense 
are these officers representatives? 

8. What are some of the qualifications of a good governor? a 
good comptroller? a good attorney-general? a good State superin- 
tendent of instruction ? 

9. Has the governor of this State the pardoning power? Is the 
pardoning power an executive or a judicial function? 

10. In which of the three departments of the government of this 
State do the people take the most pride ? In which do they take the 
least pride? 

11. What officers of this State would be best fitted to serve as the 
President of the United States? What officer would be best fitted to 
serve in the President's Cabinet? 

12. What provision is made in the constitution of this State for 
the impeachment of officers? Compare the process of impeachment 
with the procedure of the recall. 

13. Ought there to be a consolidation of offices in this State? 

.14. Fill out the following scheme for the executive department of 
the State: 



172 



THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 



Title 


Name of 

Pkesent 

Incumbent 


Appointed 

OR 

Elected ? 


Teem of 
Office ? 


Salary ? 


Duties ? 


Governor 












Lieutenant- 
Governor 












Secretary 
of State 












Treasurer 












Comptroller 
or Auditor 












Attorney- 
General 












Superintendent 
of Education 













Topics for Special Work 

1 The State Executives: Holcombe, 280-342. 

2. The Recall: Jones, 351-354; Munro, 518-521. 

3. The State Governor: Kaye, 271-275. 

4. Public Service Commissions: Kaye, 275-281. 

5. The Reconstruction of State Government: Munro, 522-534. 



XXII 

THE STATE JUDICIARY 

In every State there is a fully organized system of courts, which 
is entirely independent of the federal courts and which administers 
justice in cases coming within the scope of the laws of the State. 
How is the State judiciary organized? What are its powers, and 
what part does it play in our civil life? 

Selection of the State Judiciary. In colonial times the 
judges were usually appointed by the colonial governor. 
After independence was declared each State retained the 
system of courts to which it had been accustomed, but under 
the new constitutions eight States vested the election of 
judges in the legislature, while five gave the appointment of 
them to the governor. Early in the nineteenth century, 
Georgia, venturing upon a policy hitherto unknown in the 
history of politics, intrusted the election of its judges to 
the people. As democracy grew stronger the people began 
to demand the privilege of electing their judges as well 
as their other officers, and the example set by Georgia came 
to be generally followed, especially in the new States. 
At the present time in more than five sixths of the States 
the judges are chosen by the voters. In the other States 
they are either appointed by the governor or chosen by the 
legislature. 

The Several Grades of State Courts. The names of the 
several grades of State courts, and the jurisdiction of each, 
the method of choosing the judges, their qualifications, 
their salaries, their term and tenure of office, and other 
important matters pertaining to the judiciary are usually 
prescribed in the State constitution. 

173 



174 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Since the judicial department of a State is organized in 
accordance with the necessities and traditions of a par- 
ticular region, we must not expect to find the system of 
any two States precisely alike. The work of a State court, 
however, is everywhere the same: it administers justice in 
cases that come within the scope of State laws, and these 
are the laws that relate to most of the affairs of daily life 
(p. 155). In the administration of justice in the State it 
has been found convenient in all of the States to have at 
least three grades of courts : 

I. The Justice's Court. This court, the lowest in the 
series, is held by a justice of the peace, and may be called 
the court of the neighborhood, for in every community it 
is near at hand to administer justice in small affairs. In 
it are tried petty misdemeanors and civil cases involving 
small sums of money. In the trial of trivial offenses and 
of civil cases involving but a small sum of money the de- 
cision of the court is usually final, but when its judgment 
inflicts a severe penalt}^ or involves a considerable sum of 
money an appeal may be taken to a higher court. In cities, 
police courts, sometimes called municipal, sometimes magis- 
trates', courts, are often established for petty criminal 
cases. Where the police court exists side by side with the 
justice's court, the latter tries only civil cases. 

II. The Circuit or District Court} Next above the 
justice's court is a tribunal usually known as either the 
circuit or district court, although in some States it is 
called the superior court, and in others the court of com- 
mon pleas. This court of the second grade may be called 
the court of the county, for in almost every State it is held 
in the county court-house at the county-seat. It must not 
be understood, however, that the jurisdiction of the judges 
of this court is limited to a single county. A circuit (or 
district) usually includes several counties, and the judges 
of a circuit go from county to county to hold court. In 

1 The student should be careful not to confuse a district court of the State 
with the District Court of the federal system. 



THE STATE JUDICIARY 175 

rural districts this court tries both civil and criminal cases, 
but in the larger cities there is generally a criminal court of 
corresponding grade for the trial of the criminal cases. 
A very large city may have an elaborate system of courts 
of its own, organized with the view of meeting the city's 
needs. 

These courts of the second grade are the centers of most 
of the judicial business of the State. They are the general 
trial courts. In them are tried the weightier cases of the 
law. They review the cases appealed from the justice's 
court, and they have original jurisdiction in serious 
criminal cases and in important civil cases. 

It is in these courts, too, that the jury figures most prom- 
inently as an agency of justice. Juries are of two kinds, 
grand and petit. The grand jury is a body of men, vary- 
ing from seven to twenty-three in number, chosen by court 
officials to inquire whether there have been any violations 
of the law in the community, and to determine whether or 
not those persons under suspicion should come up for trial. 
"When making an inquiry into a criminal charge, the grand 
jury sits in secret and hears only the evidence against the 
accused. Its function is not to try the accused, but to de- 
cide whether, on the face of things, there is sufficient evi- 
dence of guilt to warrant a trial. When a majority of the 
grand jury are satisfied that the case ought to be tried, the 
indictment is indorsed with the words "a true bill," and 
the case goes to the petit jury to be tried. 

This body (in all of the States but one) must consist 
of twelve men. It sits in open session, and hears evidence 
on both sides of the case. During the progress of the trial 
questions of law are determined by the court ; the jury de- 
termines only questions of fact. After the evidence has all 
been given, and counsel on both sides of the case have 
been heard, the jury retires from the court-room and is 
locked into a small room, where it remains until it finds a 
verdict, or until the judge decides that no verdict will be 
reached. 



176 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

All the twelve ^ members must agree upon the verdict. 
When no agreement is reached a new trial may be ordered. 
As a general rule the verdict of a jury is decisive. 

Juries are chosen from the ordinary citizens in the neigh- 
borhood in which the trial is conducted — from farmers, 
mechanics, merchants — and this is the feature doubtless 
that makes trial by jury so popular. When a man is tried 
by men who are neither too far above him nor too far be- 
low him to have sympathy with him, he has a good chance 
for a fair trial. The jur}^ system, like every other human 
institution, has its defects; but, notwithstanding its short- 
comings, it is one of the greatest safeguards of civil liberty 
ever invented. 

III. The Supreme Court} In this court resides the su- 
preme judicial authority of the State. It sits at the State 
capital,^ where it holds sessions the greater part of the 
year. Its jurisdiction is for the most part appellate, al- 
though there are a few instances in which it has original 
jurisdiction. For example, a case involving the official 
action of a State officer is usually begun in the supreme 
court. Most of the cases, however, tried in the supreme 
court come up to it from the courts below. When a de- 
cision of this court conflicts in no way mth the federal 
authority, it is final, and is binding upon the people of the 
State as long as the State constitution remains unchanged ; 
but when the decision conflicts with federal law or with the 
federal Constitution, it may be reversed by the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

Immediate Courts of Appeal. In several States where 
the work of the courts is unusually heavy, there has been 
inserted between the court of the second grade and the su- 
preme court an intermediate court of appeals.* This ad- 

1 In a few States the agreement of three fourths of the members of a 
jury is sufficient to render a yerdict. 

2 In four States (Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York) this 
court is called the court of appeals. In Texas there are two supreme courts, 
one for civil and one for criminal cases. 

3 In a few States the supreme court, for the convenience of the public, holds 
sesBions at several different places in the State. 

4 Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana, and Missouri have courts of this kind. 



THE STATE JUDICIARY 177 

ditional tribunal has been established to relieve the State 
supreme court of some of its burdens, just as the federal 
Circuit of Appeals (p. 135) was established for the purpose 
of making easier the work of the federal Supreme Court. 
The jurisdiction of this immediate court is purely appellate, 
and its decisions are final, except in a few specified cases 
which may be carried from it up to the higher court. 

Probate, County, and Chancery Courts. In many of the 
States we find in every county a probate court. It is the 
business of this court to examine the wills of deceased per- 
sons and to decide whether they have been made as wills 
by law ought to be made. When a person dies without 
having made a will, and leaves no one to take charge of 
his estate, the probate court will appoint an administrator 
to take charge of it. When a child is left without father 
or mother, the probate court will appoint a guardian to 
manage the estate until the child comes of age. In general, 
the business of the probate court is to see that the property 
of the dead falls into rightful hands. In some States the 
probate court is called the orphans' court. In New York 
and New Jersey it is called the surrogate's court. 

In States where there is no separate probate court, pro- 
bate business is given to the county court, an institution 
found in many States. This county court in a few States 
has functions that are purely judicial and may try mis- 
demeanors and small civil cases. 

In a few States we find chancery courts separate from 
the law courts. In these chancery courts the equity cases 
are tried. As a rule, however, equity cases are tried in the 
regular law courts of the system. 

Relation of the State Judiciary to the Federal Judiciary. 

The State courts are entirely independent of the federal 
courts. They have their own judges and court officers — 

In New York there is below the court of appeals, the highest court of the 
State, a supreme court, one division of which is an intermediate court of ap- 
peals. The other division of the supreme court does for the most part the 
work of a court of the second grade, that is to say, of a circuit or district 
court. 



178 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

sheriffs, clerks, and prosecuting officers (p. 184) — and their 
own court-houses. They attend to the judicial business of 
the State, and can not be compelled to perform judicial 
duties of a federal nature. Their decisions, however, may 
be reviewed and reversed by the federal courts. When one 
of the parties to a case in a State court claims that the 
decision of the court is contrary to the federal Constitu- 
tion or to federal law, the case may be carried over to the 
federal courts for trial; but when a case is wholly outside 
of federal authority it must receive its final settlement in a 
State court. 

Powers of the State Judiciary. The part played by the 
State judiciary in our civil life is of the highest importance. 
Most of the cases that come up for settlement are tried in 
the State courts. The volume of State judicial business is 
probably ten times as great as the business of the federal 
judiciary within the State. Among the powers of the 
State judge are the following: 

(1) He may declare a statute of the legislature invalid 
on the ground that it conflicts (a) with the Constitution of 
the United States (127), or (&) with a statute or treaty 
of the federal government, or (c) with a decision of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, or {d) with the con- 
stitution of the State. 

(2) When the case before the court is novel, and there 
is no law, either customary or written, that will fit the 
case, the judge may nevertheless render a decision ; and 
this decision is not only law for the case in hand, but it 
will also generallj^ be regarded in other courts of the State 
as the law for similar cases when they shall arise. Laws 
thus established by judicial decisions are distinguished 
from those enacted by the legislature and are called judge- 
made laws or case laws. 

(3) Judges in courts of equity — and in most States the 
regular law courts are also courts of equity — have the 
power to issue the lurit of injunction, forbidding a person 



THE STATE JUDICIARY 179 

to do, or commanding him to do, a certain thing. If the 
injunction is disobeyed the person disobeying it is liable 
to punishment. The injunction is generally used to pre- 
vent the commission of wrongs that could not be prevented 
by the ordinary workings of a lawsuit. Thus, if a railroad 
company begins to lay its tracks across a man's property 
without first securing a right of way, a judge in a court of 
equity, at any time of the day or night, will issue an in- 
junction forbidding the railroad to continue the laying of 
the tracks. In recent cases courts have forbidden labor 
leaders and others to induce or coerce workingmen to strike 
where the strike would cause irreparable injury and dam- 
age to the employers. This use of the injunction has met 
with fierce opposition and is regarded by many as un- 
warranted and unjust. The power of injunction is 
exercised by federal as well as by State judges. 

(4) In certain cases State judges may issue the writ of 
mandamus. This writ is issued to an officer of govern- 
ment or to a corporation official, requiring the performance 
of a public duty that the officer or corporation has re- 
fused to perform. The purpose of this important writ is 
to compel the officer to go forward and do that which h;s 
position plainly requires him to do. Federal judges also 
may in certain cases issue the writ of mandamus. . 

Questions on the Text 

1. How were judges selected in colonial times? How are they 
selected at the present time? 

2. What is the function of the State judiciary? 

3. Give an account of each of the three grades of State courts. 

4. What is the function of an intermediate court of appeal ? 

5. What is a probate court? a chancery court? 

6. In what relation does the State judiciary stand to the federal 
judiciary? 

7. Name four important powers of the State judiciary. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Examine the constitution of this State for answers to the fol- 
lowing questions: (a) What are the names of the several grades of 
courts, beginning with the lowest? (h) How do justices of the 
peace and police magistrates receive their office, by election or by ap- 



180 



THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 



pointment? (c) What is the name of the court corresponding to 
the circuit court described in the text? State the qualifications of 
the judges of this court, the term of their office, the mode of their 
election or appointment, and the salary received. What is the num- 
ber of the circuit (or district) in which you live? Bound this cir- 
cuit and name the judges, (d) What is the name of the court cor- 
responding to the supreme court described in the text? State the 
qualifications of the judges of this office, the term of the office, mode 
of election or appointment, and the salary received. 

2. Why should the term of office of a judge be longer than that of 
other officers? 

3. Which are the most important, good law-makers, good execu- 
tive officers, or good judges? 

4. If you live in a city of considerable size, describe the several 
kinds of courts existing in your city. 

5. If you had a case in court, would you prefer to have it tried 
by a judge without a jury or by a judge with a jury? 

6. Fill out the following scheme for the judicial department in 
vour State : 



Name of 
Court 


Appointed 

OR 

Ejected ? 


Term of 
Office? 


Salary ? 


Duties 
( Jurisdic- 
tion ? ) 


Supreme 
Court 










Intermediate 
Court of 
Appeals 




• 






Circuit 

or 
District 

or 

Superior 

Court 




I 






Justice of 
the Peace 










Special 

Courts 











Topics for Special Work 

1. Popular Election of the Judiciary: Johnson, 367-369. 

2. The State Judiciary: Holcombe, 345-392 ; Munro, 489-501. 

3. Courts of Last Resort: Reinsch, 140-150. 

4. Politics and the Judiciary: Reinsch, 158-168. 

5. Trial by Jury: Kaye, 320-327. 



XXIII 
THE COUNTY 

Within the boundaries of the State there are hundreds, in some 
cases thousands, of minor governments attending to the public af- 
fairs of localities. Upon these localities — these cities, villages, coun- 
ties, and townships — rests most of the every-day work of govern- 
ment. Local governments, therefore, may rightly demand a liberal 
share of our attention. We have already considered this subject in 
its broad aspects (pp. 62-67), and have learned of the relation 
that exists between the local government and the higher State gov- 
ernment. We shall now study the organization of the several kinds 
of local government, beginning with the county. 

Importance of County Government. Of all the local gov- 
ernments, the county is the one most widely established 
and the one that touches the lives of the greatest number 
of people. It is a unit of local government in every State. 
Altogether there are in the United States more than three 
thousand counties. With the exception of the inhabitants 
of the cities of Washington, St. Louis, and Baltimore, and 
the principal cities of Virginia, everybody lives in a county. 
The total annual expenditures of counties amount to nearly 
half -A billion dollars. The activities of the county govern- 
ment extend to things affecting profoundly the health, com- 
fort, and convenience of the public. County government, 
therefore, is one of the most important subjects that can 
engage the attention of the citizen. 

The Three Types of County Government. County gov- 
ernment in America had its origin in the colony of Vir- 
ginia. Very early the settlers of Virginia felt the necessity 
of some kind of local government, and they chose the Eng- 
lish shire, or county, as the form most suitable to prevail- 
ing conditions. Counties were also established in the 

181 



182 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

other colonies; but, inasmuch as conditions were not every- 
where the same, county governments of different kinds 
were evolved, with the result that by the end of the colonial 
period three rather distinct types were in existence. These 
types have persisted until the present time. Hence our 
county governments fall into three classes: 

I. Counties of the Southern Type. The Virginia 
county being suitable to the civilization of the other South- 
ern colonies was adopted by them as a unit of local govern- 
ment. Later, when the Territories and States of the South- 
west and far West were organized, they were divided into 
counties of the Virginia type. Looking at the subject 
broadly, we may say that the following States have modeled 
their counties on the Virginia plan : Maryland, West Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, 
Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. In 
these States virtually all of the services of local government 
(p. 62) outside of the chartered municipalities are per- 
formed by the county government. It is true that in all 
of these States the county is divided into minor divisions — 
into precincts, or beats, or wards, or election districts ; but 
these divisions are in no sense distinct units of local gov- 
ernment ; they are simply convenient areas for voting or for 
performing some public service regulated and controlled by 
county authority. 

II. The New England County. When we turn to New 
England, we find that the county is not a very important 
factor in local affairs. This is due to the fact that in New 
England, outside of the municipalities, the town — as may 
be learned more fully hereafter — takes to itself nearly the 
whole of the burden of local government, leaving little for 
the county to do. In fact, the county in New England 
exists mainly for judicial purposes. Nevertheless, it has a 
few officers and exercises a few powers similar to those 
exercised by the county in other States. 



THE COUNTY 183 

III. The County in the Middle States and in the Middle 
West. In the Middle States and in most of those of the 
Middle West there have been established within the county 
inferior local governments known as townships. These 
townships perform some of the local services that are per- 
formed by the county in States that have the Southern 
type. The functions of county government in the Middle 
States and in the Middle West, therefore, are not so 
numerous as they are in the South and Southwest, although 
they are more numerous than in New England. 

The Governing Body of the County. In every county, ex- 
cept in the counties of Rhode Island, there is an elective 
governing body known as the board of commissioners or 
board of supervisors.^ This board consists usually of three 
or five or seven members, whose terms of office vary from 
one to six years. In some of the States, as in New York, 
New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois (in eighty-five of the coun- 
ties), and Wisconsin, the county board consists of one super- 
visor for each of the townships into which the county is 
divided. The county board holds its sessions at the county- 
Seat, where the county officials have offices. The county 
commissioners (or supervisors) usually do the following 
things : 

(1) They fix the rate of taxation for the county. 

(2) They appoint the assessors, tax collectors, road 
supervisors, and other subordinate county officials. 

(3) They make contracts for building and repairing 
public buildings, such as court-houses, jails, and alms- 
houses. 

(4) They appropriate money for the payment of the 
salaries of county officers and to meet the expenses of 
county government. 

1 In Vermont this body is called the board of assistant judges; in New 
Jersey, the board of chosen freeholders; in Kentucky, the fiscal court; in 
West Virginia and Tennessee, the county court; in Louisiana, the po ice jury ; 
in Arkansas, the levying court. In Georgia county affairs are conducted Dy 
a single officer known as the ordinary. 



184 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

(5) They (in many States) make contracts for repair- 
ing old roads and opening new ones, and also for building 
and repairing bridges. 

(6) They represent the county when it is sued for dam- 
ages. (Any local government is to a certain extent a cor- 
poration (p. 64), and, in so far as it is a corporation, it 
can, like a natural person, be brought into court to defend 
a suit.) 

Court Officials of a County. Every county is a district 
for the administration of justice, and at every county-seat 
sessions of court are held. In the execution of judicial 
business the judges receive the assistance of several county 
officers. The most important county officers who act as 
court officials are as follows : 

(1) The Prosecuting Attorney, called in some States 
the District Attorney, in others the State's Attorney, and 
in still others the Solicitor, is a lawyer whose chief duty is 
to see that criminals are brought to justice, and to appear 
in court at the trial of persons charged with crime and 
present the side of the State. 

(2) The Sheriff has been called the "arm of the judge.'' 
If the judge orders a man to be taken to prison, or orders 
property to be sold, or sentences a man to be hanged, the 
sheriff executes the command. It is his duty also to assist 
in preserving peace and order, and when necessary he may 
call to his aid a sufficient number of deputies. In times of 
great danger or disturbance he may call to his aid the 
posse comitatus, which includes every able-bodied man in 
the county. The sheriff usually lives at the county-seat 
and has charge of the county jail and its prisoners. 

(3) The Clerk of the Circuit (or District or Superior) 
Court is a kind of secretary to the judge. He enrolls in 
permanent form the records of the court and keeps them 
where they will be safe. Also, in some States, he keeps a 
record of the deeds and mortgages given in the county, 
issues marriage certificates, and records all births and 



THE COUNTY 185 

deaths The county clerk, therefore, is one of the busiest 
and most useful of county officials. 

(4) The Coroner inquires into the cause of mysterious 
or sudden deaths. If he thinks a death has been the re- 
sult of violence, he summons six or twelve men to act as a 
jury, and holds a ''coroner's inquest." Witnesses are 
summoned, and the jury, after hearing evidence, states 
the probable cause of the death. If it seems to the jury 
that the deceased person came to his death at the hand of a 
certain person, the accused is arrested and sent to jail to 
await trial. 

Other County Officials. The county officers mentioned in 
the preceding section are found in virtually every State. 
In addition to these, there are other county officials that 
are found in many or most of the States : 

(5) The County Superintendent of Schools has a gen- 
eral supervision over the schools within the county. He 
usually sets the examinations for teachers. He visits the 
different schools of the county and makes out a report of 
their work; collects school statistics; grades the work of 
schools ; and devotes his time to their improvement. 

(6) The County Treasurer receives, safeguards, and pays 
out the money raised by county taxation. 

(7) The County Auditor examines the books of the treas- 
urer and of other county officers, and reports whether the 
public accounts are properly and honestly kept. In some 
States he issues warrants on the treasurer for the expendi- 
ture of county money according to the appropriations made 
by the county board. 

(8) The Register or Recorder of Deeds keeps a record 
of mortgages and deeds. In all the States, when real estate 
passes from one owner to another a public record of the 
transaction is necessary, and in about half the States the 
record is intrusted to a county register or recorder of deeds. 

(9) The County Surveyor makes surveys of land when 
the county needs the services of a land surveyor. 



186 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

(10) The County School Board has the general manage- 
ment of the schools of the connty. In some States the 
county school board has only certain supervisory^ duties. 

(11) The Overseers of the Poor attend to the needs of 
paupers and other unfortunates. 

(12) County Assessors estimate the value of the prop- 
erty of each taxpayer in the county. 

In no State do we find all the county officers mentioned 
above; yet the list gives a fairly good notion of the official 
outfit of a typical American county. County officers, gen- 
erally speaking, are elective; yet there are many cases 
where the county official receives his position by appoint- 
ment. 

County Home Rule. As a general rule, counties are organ- 
ized and governed by general laws passed by the legisla- 
ture. There is, however, in several States a sentiment which 
demands that counties should be given a measure of home 
rule similar to that which is enjoyed in many cases by cities 
(p. 66). In California the people of a county are per- 
mitted to determine the form of county organization, pro- 
vided that certain necessary county officers, such as the 
sheriff and district attorney, are maintained to execute the 
laws. 

The Citizen and His County. Practically every American 
citizen is directly and closely interested in the administra- 
tion of the affairs of some county, but citizens are by no 
means everywhere as watchful of their county government 
as they ought to be. They allow the management of county 
affairs to fall into the hands of a ''court-house ring," and 
this too often means mismanagement and corruption. 
Where the county government is bad, roads are bad, bridges 
are unsafe, schools are inefficient, crime is unpunished, and 
taxes are high. 

County affairs are often neglected because they are re- 
garded as too commonplace for serious attention. The 



THE COUNTY 187 

citizen, in his interest in the greater affairs of the State 
and nation, overlooks the small polities of the locality. 
Such oversight is one of the most dangerous errors of citi- 
zenship. The county is one of the political units that go 
to make up the State, just as the State is one of the units 
of which the nation is composed. Keep the government of 
all the counties pure and good, and good government in 
State and nation will almost certainly follow. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Why is the question of county government very important? 

2. Describe the three types of county government. 

3. Give an account of the organization and powers of the county 
commissioners or supervisors. 

4. Name the court officials of the county and describe the duties 
of each. 

5. Name some of the other county officials and give an account of 
the duties of each. 

6- To what extent has "home rule" been granted to counties? 

7. What do you think of the principle of "home rule" for coun- 
ties? 

8. What can you say of the citizen and his county? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. What are the provisions in the constitution of this State re- 
lating to the government of counties? Do these provisions restrict 
the power of the legislature in reference to counties, or do they leave 
that body free to govern counties pretty much as it pleases? Can 
the legislature of this State pass special laws as to counties? 

2. How many counties are there in this State? Are their bound- 
aries artificial or natural? Have their names any historical sig- 
nificance? 

3. Bound the county in which you live and give its area and 
population. What is the distance of the county-seat from the most 
remote point in the county? In what year was this county organ- 
ized? 

4. Prepare a list of the county officers of this State and compare 
it with the list given in the text. (In those States in which county 
is the predominant type of local government the two lists will prob- 
ably resemble each other closely; in other States there may be a 
considerable difference between them.) 

5. State the powers of the county board of commissioners in this 
State. Is the board a legislative or an executive body? 

6. What are the constitutional provisions relating to the term of 
the several county officials, the manner of their election or appoint- 
ment, and their salaries? 



188 



THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 



7. Are the representatives in the legislature of this State appor- 
tioned by counties? If so, state the rule by which they are appor- 
tioned. Is the rule agreeable to the principle, "so many people, so 
many representatives" ? 

8. Is this county well governed? State particulars. 

9. Of the functions of local government mentioned on p. 62 name 
those that are exercised by county officials in this State. 

10. What is the name of the smaller political divisions into which 
counties in this State are divided? 

11. In Los Angeles county there is an officer known as the puh- 
lie defender, whose duty is to defend in the courts all persons finan- 
cially unable to employ an attorney and who are charged with crime. 
Should every county have a public defender as one of its officers? 

12. Make out a table showing the titles of your county officers, 
their names, the length of their terms of office, and whether they 
are appointed or elected. 



Title? 



Name? 



Length of 
Term? 



Appointed 
Elected? 



or 



Salary ? 



Topics for Special Wobk 

General Characteristics of County Government: Fairlee, 57-74. 
The County Bond: Fairlee, 75-94. 
The Sheriff: Fairlee, 106-112. 
The County: Beard, 639-648. 



5. County Government: Munro, 546-559. 



4 



XXIV 
THE TOWNSHIP 

{For Students in States Haviny Townships) 

We learned in the preceding chapter that in the Middle States and 
in most of the States of the West the county shares the business of 
local government with a minor civil division known as the town- 
ship.i States that have townships contain more than half of the 
entire population of the nation. Students living in one of these 
States ought to make a careful study of the subject of township gov- 
ernment. 

The Two Types of the County-Township System. The 

presence of townships in the county results in a com- 
promise system of local government often called the county- 
township system. Under this system the county govern- 
ment attends to those affairs that interest the whole body 
of the people of the county, while the township attends 
to the affairs of a small area, its function beings to provide 
a government for a neighborhood. 

County-township government has had two sources, and 
has developed into two distinct types — the New York type 
and the Pennsylvania type. In New York, as in New Eng- 
land, small self-governing communities known as towns 
(townships) appeared at a very early date in the history 
of the colony. These towns had their town-meetings and 
elected a set of officers, but their powers were not so great 
as those of the New England town. In 1703 the assembly 
of New York passed a law that has had far-reaching in- 
fluence upon local government in the United States. This 
law provided for the annual flection by each township of 
an officer to be known as the supervisor of the township, 

1 In Delaware this division is known as the hundred. 

189 



190 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

and further provided that the supervisors of the several 
townships should meet at the county-seat as a board of 
county supervisors (p. 183). Here was a reproduction of 
the old hundred-village sj^stem of early England, in which 
the representatives of the village met in shire moot (p. 18). 

Following this law of 1703, there have been evolved in 
New York (and in some counties of New Jersey) strongly 
democratic local governments of small area, classed as town- 
ships, and along with these a strong county government, 
whose chief administrative body — the board of county 
supervisors — consists of representatives of townships. Vil- 
lages and the wards of cities are also represented on the 
board of county supervisors. This type of the county- 
township system, known as the supervisor plan, has served 
as the pattern for local government in those new States 
that were settled largely by emigrants from New York. 
This is true of Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. 

In the early days of Pennsylvania the prevailing form 
of local government was the county organized on the Vir- 
ginia plan. Gradually the officers of the county came to 
be elected by the people, and when the township made its 
appearance the county was too strong to suffer encroach- 
ments upon its organization. It retained its board of 
county commissioners elected by the people of the county. 
The people of the townships in Pennsylvania did not 
hold their annual town-meetings and participate directly in 
the management of their local affairs, as in New York ; they 
elected their local officers annually, and with the act of 
election their power was at an end. In other words, the 
township in Pennsylvania was a representative govern- 
ment. 

The county-township system of Pennsylvania naturally 
spread to Ohio, and thence to Indiana. Later it was 
adopted by Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Da- 
kota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Oklahoma. 

Local government in Illinois has had an instructive ex- 
perience. "When this State was admitted into the Union 



THE TOWNSHIP 



191 



its people were largely of Southern origin, and consequently 
local government of the pure county type was established. 
As time went on, the northern part of the State filled up 
with people from the North. These desired the county- 
township plan, and in 1848 the new constitution gave the 
people of the county the right to determine whether they 




PICKAWAY ^' CO. 
MAP OP A COUNTY, SHOWING TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES 

wished townships or not. Taking advantage of this right, 
more than five sixths of the counties of Illinois have de- 
cided for townships and are now under the county-township 
system. 

Michigan furnishes another excellent illustration of how 
the character and habits of the people influence the form 
of government. In Michigan, at first, the county-township 



192 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

system of the Pennsylvania kind was established; but as 
emigrants from New York and New England moved into 
the State and changed the character of the population, the 
people became more and more dissatisfied with their local 
government, and finally changed it to the supervisor or 
New York plan. Such experiences teach that local gov- 
ernment must above all things be acceptable to the people 
who are immediately affected by it and who must person- 
ally conduct it. 

Powers of the Township. "Why have so many States found 
it desirable to erect within the county another fully or- 
ganized government? Because the township has been 
found to be an institution of great convenience. For a 
sparsely settled society the county is, perhaps, the only 
practicable form of government ; but as population increases 
the needs of the neighborhood multiply, and many of these 
needs are such as can be attended to by the people directly 
interested if they have the power granted to them. It is 
not necessary to travel twenty miles to the county-seat to 
see an officer about the repair of a washout in a road, or 
about the purchase of a stove for a school-house, when we 
can have a government near at hand to attend to such 
things. The township has been introduced as an agency by 
which the needs of the immediate locality may be attended 
to. 

Especially has the public school been a factor in the de- 
velopment of the township system. Local government in 
the South developed around a court-house; in New 
England, around a church ; in the Middle States and in 
the West, around a school-house. Then, too, the care of 
the roads and the support of the poor are services that in 
many cases may most conveniently be rendered by the gov- 
ernment of the neighborhood. 

The powers of the township vary slightly in the differ- 
ent States ; but, as a rule, where the county-township sys- 
tem prevails the township (1) supports the public schools, 



\ 



^ THE TOWNSHIP 193 

(2) cares for the roads, and (3) helps the poor, leaving 
other matters of local government to the county. The taxes 
yiecessary for doing these things are usually levied and col- 
lected by township authority. 

Organization of the Township. The names of the officers 
of the township are not the same in all the States, but its 
organization is practically the same and may be indicated 
as follows : 

(1) The Supervisors (sometimes called Trustees) resem- 
ble the selectmen of the New England town, only their 
powers are not so great. Their duty is to take care of the 
roads and bridges, erect and keep in repair guide-posts 
and watering-troughs, and plant shade-trees along the road- 
side. They may build and keep in repair a town-house, 
in which elections may be held and officers of the town may 
transact the public business. 

(2) School Directors or School Trustees have control of 
the public schools within the township. In some States 
the directors of all the townships in a county meet every 
second or third year and elect a superintendent of schools 
for the county; in other States the township supervisors 
or trustees are also the school directors. 

(3) The Township Clerk keeps the records and accounts 
of the township. 

(4) Assessors. 

(5) Tax Collector. 

(6) Auditors. These officers examine the accounts of 
the township to see that all money has been properly and 
honestly expended. 

(7) Justice of the Peace. 

(8) ConstaHe. 

(9) Overseers of the Poor. 

(10) Election Officers. 

The Township a School for Good Citizenship. When we 
consider that in some of the States there are as many as 



194 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

fifteen hundred townships, officered perhaps by fifteen thou- 
sand citizens, we see how great is the influence of the little 
local governments upon the civic life of the State. Like 
the New England town, the township is the training-school 
where citizens learn the principles of civil liberty and the 
art of self-government. Thus, while it might be possible 
to dispense with the township, to do so would be to incur 
a heavy political loss. There is no likelihood, however, that 
this valuable institution will decay. As the rural popula- 
tion in a State becomes denser the necessity of a govern- 
ment of smaller area than the county will always be keenly 
felt, and sooner or later such a government will be estab- 
lished. Among the various types that may be selected the 
township bids fair to remain the favorite. A high author- 
ity says: "The Western method of local government (the 
county-township system) for simplicity, symmetry, flexi- 
bility, and administrative efficiency is superior to any other 
system which the Teuton mind has yet produced." (How- 
ard.) 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is meant by the county-township system? 

2. Name the two types of the county-township system and de- 
scribe each. 

3. Name the States that have the New York type of the county- 
township system; the States that have the Pennsylvania type. 

4. Give an account of the development of local government in 
Illinois; in Michigan. 

5. What are the usual functions of the township? 

6. Name the typical township officers and state the duties of each. 

7. Describe the effect that township government has upon civic 
life. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

{For Students where the County -Towtiships System prevails) 

1. What is said in the constitution of this State concerning the 
organization and powers of townships? 

2. Name the officers of this township. What are the duties of 
each of these officers? For what length of term does each one serve? 

3. Do townships of this State belong to the Pennsylvania or to 
the New York type? 

4. What functions does the township in this State perform? 
Would it be wise to give it more power? Why? 



THE TOWNSHIP 



195 



5. How many townships are there in this county? Name them. 
Bound the one in which you live. 

6. Are there any villages or towns within this township? If any, 
how are they governed? 

7. Compare the merits of the supervisor plan with those of the 
commissioner plan. 

8. Are the people of this township proud of the manner in which 
local affairs are conducted? If so, why? If not, why not? 

9. Compute the number of township officers in this county. 
Estimate the number of such offices in the entire State. Describe the 
effect that would be produced upon the citizenship of the State if the 
township government were abolished. 

10. Is a love of locality inconsistent with love of country? 

11. Make out a table showing the titles of your township officers, 
the length of their terms of office, whether they are appointed or 
elected, and the salary or compensation they receive: 



Title? 



Name ? 



Length of 
Term? 



Appointed 
or Elected? 



Salary or 
Compen- 
sation ? 



Topics for Special Work 

1. Townships in the Central States: Fairlee, 164-185. 

2. Township Government: Beard, 651-653. 



XXV 

THE TOWN 

{For Students in New England) 

We have learned (p. 182) that, in New England, outside of the 
municipalities the town performs most of the services of local gov- 
ernment. Since this is so, it is highly important that New England 
students should learn the essential facts of town government. 

Origin and Character of the Early New England Town. 

At the time when the planters of Virginia were organizing 
newly settled communities into counties, the colonists of 
New England were developing a system of local govern- 
ment that differed widely in form and spirit from the 
Southern type. The English shire, which served for the 
model for the Virginia county, did not suit the conditions 
of the earliest Puritan settlements. The tillable land of 
the New England country was divided by nature into small 
areas marked off by bold hills and troublesome streams; 
the settlements were constantly harassed by Indians; the 
settlers themselves were bound together by personal as well 
as social and religious experiences. These circumstances 
led the Puritans to build their houses as close together 
as possible, and to settle in compact villages rather than to 
spread out on large plantations. 

The form of government adopted for these thickly settled 
communities was one that had almost perished from the 
earth. The old town- {tun) or village-meeting (p. 18), 
which the Anglo-Saxons had brought with them to England 
a thousand years before, and which had been so changed by 
the influences of feudalism that it was no longer recog- 
nizable, was revived, unconsciously perhaps, in its ancient 

196 



THE TOWN 197 

form and vigor, and the town instead of the county was 
established. 

The early New England town was a pure democracy, in 
which all the male adult inhabitants who attended church 
— and everybody was required by law to attend church- 
participated in the management of public affairs. The 
town, therefore, was a strong contrast to the Virginia 
county, which was for a long time a close corporation,^ and 
was practically an aristocracy of large land-holders. 
^ The deep religious nature of the Puritans affected their 
civil institutions, and for a long time their religion and 
politics were completely blended. Political life in Vir- 
ginia centered around the county court-house; in New 
England it centered around the church or meeting-house, 
which was situated in the center of the town. A glance 
at the proceedings of one of the early town-meetings will 
illustrate how intimately civil and religious matters were 
mingled. Thus the people of Dorchester, Massachusetts, 
in town-meeting assembled, in 1666 voted that the ''men's 
seats in the body of the meeting-house be enlarged to the 
women's seats, and that the space between Judge Jami- 
son's heirs and Lieut. Steam's pew be divided and added 
to their pews, they consenting, and that the doors to their 
pews be made to come out into the hind alley, and that 
men and women be placed in each of these pews by the 
committee for seating the meeting-house." In these days 
this would seem to be strange business for government to be 
engaged in, but we must remember that church and state 
were as yet united in all parts of the world, although 
Rhode Island, under the leadership of Roger Williams, was 
making efforts about this time to separate them. 

The town was chosen as an agency for local govern- 
ment throughout New England, and under its stimulating 
and healthful influence there was developed a citizenship 
that has received the admiration of the world. The re- 

1 A close corporation is one in which vacancies are filled by the votes of 
the members of the corporation, 



198 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ligious features of the town organization and control have 
disappeared ; church membership is no longer a qualifica- 
tion for voting; citizens are no longer compelled to attend 
divine worship ; the church and the minister are no longer 
supported by the public money. Excepting the fact that 
it is no longer concerned with matters of religion, the 
New England town of to-day remains in outward form, at 
least, what it was in the early days. 

The Town-Meeting. The central fact of local government 
in New England is the town-meeting, the old village moot 
or tungemot of the Saxons. Once a year the qualified 
voters of the town meet together to discuss measures re- 
lating to to^^rQ affairs and to take action thereon. The meet- 
ing is no longer held in church, but in the town house or 
town hall. When the people have assembled, the town 
clerk calls them to order, and states the purpose for which 
the meeting is called. A moderator is then chosen to pre- 
side over the meeting, and business proceeds according to 
parliamentary rules. 

In a town-meeting we see democracj^ in its purest form. 
Instead of sending men to conduct affairs for them, as in 
a representative government, the people are there in person. 
Young and old, rich and poor, take part in the proceedings, 
and any citizen present may exert the full force of his 
character and influence. Every measure that is brought 
before the meeting is discussed and criticized. Those in 
favor of the measure state their argument for it ; those op- 
posed to it state their objections. When the discussion is 
at an end a vote is taken, and, whatever the results may 
be, all present feel that the will of the people has been ex- 
pressed. Thus the town-meeting settles all matters relat- 
ing to the public affairs of the town. The most important 
things done are these : 

(1) The rate of taxation is fixed. Money is appropriated 
for the schools, for the care of the roads, for the support 



THE TOWN 199 

of the poor, for tlie salaries of officers, and for other neces- 
sary expenses. 

(2) By-laws are passed for the regulation of local mat- 
ters. The word hy originally meant town; hence a by-law 
is a town law. A law passed in town-meeting forbidding 
the use of the sidewalks of the town for bicycling is an 
example of a by-law. 

(3) Town officers are elected. It would be impossible 
for all the people of a town to meet together every day for 
the transaction of public business. For this reason, at the 
annual town-meeting officers are elected to manage the af- 
fairs of the town in the name of the people for one year. 

Town Officers : 

(1) Selectmen. The general management of town af- 
fairs during the year is placed in the hands of three or 
five or seven or nine citizens, called selectmen. These 
officers carry into effect the measures passed at the town- 
meeting. They supervise the laying out of roads; they 
grant licenses ; they care for the poor ; they take measures 
to abate nuisances, check the advance of contagious dis- 
ease, and otherwise preserve the health of the town; they 
listen to complaints against the management of town af- 
fairs; they represent the town in court when it is sued; 
they make out the warrant when a special town-meeting 
is to be called. The town-meeting is the legislature of 
the town, and the selectmen are its chief executive officers. 

(2) The Town Clerk. This officer has numerous duties. 
We have seen that it is he who calls the town-meeting to 
order. He must always be present at a town-meeting and 
keep a record of the proceedings. In addition to this, he 
keeps a record of the births, marriages, and deaths in the 
town, and grants certificates to those wishing to marry. 
In fact, most matters of town record are in his keeping, 
including sometimes the recording of deeds and convey- 
ances. 



200 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

(3) Tax Assessors. 

(4) Tax Collectors. 

(5) The Town Treasurer. 

(6) Overseers of the Poor. These officers have charge 
of the town alms-house and give relief to the deserving 
poor. 

(7) The School Committee or Board of Education. 
(School affairs are usually attended to by a committee or 
board elected at a separate school election.) 

(8) Constables. These are peace officers, and every town 
has one or more of them. They arrest for crime, and assist 
the selectmen in executing the law. 

( 9 ) Surveyors of Highways. These officers inspect roads 
and bridges and are responsible for keeping them in repair. 

(10) Fence Viewers. These officers settle disputes that 
may arise between neighbors about partition fences or 
walls. 

(11) Field Drivers. When cow^s or horses or other ani- 
mals are found wandering about the town, the field driver 
puts them into a pound and keeps them until their right- 
ful owner is found. 

This list of officers is not complete ; yet it is long enough 
to show that a great many people take part in the gov- 
ernment of a town. It is quite possible that there are New 
England towns in which there is not one intelligent citizen 
of advanced years who has not at some time in his life held 
public office. It is this general participation in the business 
of government that makes the people of New England such 
a wide-awake and progressive body of citizens. 

The Town as a Factor in the Civic Life of New England. 

It is difficult for one not residing in New England to under- 
stand how powerfully its system of local government in- 
fluences its civic life. Every voter of a town is a law- 
maker, and almost every one either has been, is, or very 
reason-ably expects to be a town offi-cer of some kind. 
This direct contact with government keeps public spirit 



THE TOWN 201 

keyed up to a high pitch. If the town affairs during the 
year are managed unwisely or corruptly, there is sure 
to be a speed}^ exposure in town-meeting by merciless 
critics. If improvements are needed, or if the town lags 
behind its neighbors in progressiveness, the discussions in 
the folkmoot are sure to be directed toward a remedy, 
and when a remedy is found it usually proves to be wise 
and effective. The keen, vigilant citizenship fostered by 
these little New England democracies awakened the ad- 
miration of Thomas Jefferson and led him to pronounce 
them to be the "wisest invention ever devised by the wit 
of men for the perfect exercise of self-government and for 
its preservation. ' ' 

Town Government Outside of New England. In those 
Western States that were settled largely by emigrants 
from New England, local government is modeled to some 
degree on the plan of the New England town. This is es- 
pecially true of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. In Michigan 
the voters of the townships, after electing the local officers, 
assemble in town-meeting, and, after voting the taxes for 
township purposes, make regulations concerning such mat- 
ters as the licensing of dogs, the vaccination of children, 
and the purchase of books for the library. In certain parts 
of Illinois, also, the voters hold a town-meeting after the 
election of officers has been held. 

The town-meetings of the Western States may resemble 
the New England town-meeting in form, but they lack the 
spirit of the original type. It is doubtful whether an in- 
stitution like the New England town can be successfully 
transplanted. Certainly the efforts that have been made 
to establish local governments in the West after the New 
England pattern have not been attended with marked suc- 
cess. Local government in the West has been strongly in- 
fluenced by New England ideas, but town government in 
its pure form has never flourished outside of New England. 



202 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Questions on the Text 

1. What circumstances led the Puritan settlers to choose a form 
of local government different fro'n that chosen by the Virginians? 

2. Describe the early New England town, 

3. Illustrate how the affairs of church and state were blended in 
the early days of New England history. 

4. Describe a New England town-meeting. 

5. What are the powers of a New England to^^^l? 

6. Name the officers of the New England town and state their 
duties. 

7. What influence does town government have upon civic life in 
New England? 

8. To what extent has town government of the New England type 
been adopted in other States? 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 
{For Students in New England) 

1. Examine the constitution of your State for provisions respect- 
ing the government of towns and state these provisions. 

2. Of the services of local government mentioned on page 62, 
which are performed by your town government? 

3. Bound the town in which you live and tell when it was organ- 
ized. Name all the towns in the county in which you live. Have 
these names historical interest? Name t]ie boroughs or cities, if any, 
located within the borders of your town. 

4. Make out a list of the officers of your town. Which one of 
these plays a most important part in town government? (Elect a 
committee to wait upon some town officer and invite him to give the 
class a talk upon town government.) 

5. How may a special town-meeting be called? 

6. What influences are at work to make town government a less 
important feature of New England life than it has been in the past? 

7. How many representatives has your town in the legislature? 
Has this apportionment been made according to the population of 
the town? 

8. Is the town-meeting a legislative or an executive body? 

9. Are women and children represented in town government? 

10. In what matters does the government of your town excel? In 
what respect is your town excelled by its neighbors? 

11. How many towns are there in this State? What is the popu- 
lation of the largest town? of the smallest town? Is the largest too 
large for a pure democracy? Is the smallest too small for self-gov- 
ernment ? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. New England Towns: Fairlee, 141-146; Beard, 649-651. 

2. The Town Meeting: Fairlee, 147-163; Munro, 562-563. 

3. The Character of Town Government in New England: Munro, 

563-567. 



XXVI 
MUNICIPALITIES 

Thus far we have desoribed those forms of local government that 
are most efficient when ministering to the needs of rural or sparsel}' 
settled communities. But more than half of our people dwell in 
thickly settled communities, in villages and towns i and cities, which 
are organized as municipalities (p. 64). In this chapter we shall 
learn of the different kinds of municipalities and of the different 
forms of municipal organization. 

Necessity for Municipal Organization. It is plain that a 
large number of people living closely together, say a thou- 
sand persons upon a square mile of territory, have special 
needs and, therefore, should have a government with special 
powers. Such a densely settled community needs street 
lights, side-walks, sewers, water-works, fire engines, and 
the government of the township or county or town within 
which it is located can not furnish these things conveniently. 
It also needs special officers of government clothed with 
special powers. As long as it is governed precisely as the 
thinly settled region around it, it will suffer. Its taxes 
will be greater than the benefits that it receives in return ; 
its citizens will often act without regard to the public 
welfare or comfort; its sidewalks will be unpaved, its 
streets will be unlighted; in it offenses against the health 
and the peace and the good order of the community will be 
committed, and there will be neither law nor officers to 
hinder. The State, as we have seen, comes to the relief of 
such a community and confers upon it the privilege of a 
municipal corporation. 

1 The word town is frequently used to denote simply a collection of houses, 
and in this sense it is used here. The New England town is sometimes a 
purely agricultural area without so much as a considerable cluster of houses 
within its borders. 

203 



204 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Two Classes of Municipalities. Municipal corporations, 
for convenience of treatment, may be divided into two 
classes. In the first class may be included all those 
chartered communities that have a simple form of or- 
ganization, limited local powers, and a small population, 
although population of itself is an untrustworthy guide for 
their classification. Such communities bear different names 
in different parts of the country, being called boroughs in 
some States, and towns or villages in others. 

The second class of municipalities is the cities. A city 
is almost always an enlarged town or village, and in out- 
ward appearance it is sometimes difficult to distinguish a 
small city from a large town, although between the govern- 
ments of the two there is a sharp difference. The govern- 
ment of the city is more complex than that of the town; 
its powers are greater, its officers are more numerous, and 
its local independence is more clearly defined. At what 
point in its growth a town or village shall cast off its 
simple organization and assume the dignity of cityhood de- 
pends upon State law. In some States a place must have 
ten thousand or more inhabitants before it is entitled to the 
privileges of a city, while in other States we find cities with 
fewer than three thousand inhabitants. 

Villages, Boroughs, Towns. It is customary to give a com- 
munity a municipal charter whenever its population be- 
comes large enough and dense enough to justify a separate 
organization. In some States, when a district of less than 
a square mile in extent comes to have as many as three 
hundred inhabitants, it is entitled under a general law to 
a village or town charter, and this it usually obtains from 
a judge of a court or from some other designated officer. 
In a few States, however, there are no general laws in 
reference to municipal corporations, and in these the legis- 
lature grants special charters giving to each municipality 
such a charter as it (the legislature) thinks it ought to 
have. 



VOTERS OF THE CITY 



MUN I CI PAU 
COURT 





PHtPARED BY CHICAGO BUREAU 
OF PUBLIC EFFICIENCY, 1917 



BUREAU or STATISTICS 
ANDiMUNICIPAL 
REFERENCE LIBRARY 



M U N I C I PA L- 
TUBERCULOSIS 
SAN I TAR 1 U M 

3 DIRECTORS NO SAIAR Y 




SPECIAL 

COMMISSIONS 



BOARD OF ELECTION 

COMMISSIONERS 

(5) 

APPOIIMTE.D BV 
COUNTY JUDGE 



LI BRARV 
BOARD 

9 DIRECTORS NO SALARY 



BOARD OF 
EDUCATION 

11 MEMBERS NO SALARY 



CITY DEPARTMENTS 



DEPARTMENT 
OF LAW 



DEPARTMENT 
OF FINANCE 



FIRE 

DEPARTMENT 



DEPARTMENT 
OF POLICE. 



CIVIL 

SERVICE 

COMMISSION 



DEPARTMENT 

OF BOILER 

INSPECTION 



DEPARTMENT 
OF WEIGHTS AND 
MEASURES 



DEPARTMENT 

OF PUBLIC 

3 E RV I C E 



DEPARTMENT 
OF BUILDINGS 



DEPARTMENT 
OF SUPPLIES 



CITY 
PHY5ICIAN 



DEPARTMENT 
OF HEALTH 



\ 



DEPARTMENT 

OF 
PUBLIC WORKS 



DEPARTMENT 
OF GAS AND 
ELECTRICITY 



BOARD OF 
EXAMINING 
ENGINEERS 



BOARD OF 
LOCAL 

IMPROVEMENTS 



HOUSE OF 
CORRECTION 



CITV 
MARKETS 



INSPECTOR 
OF OILS 



ELECTIVE OFFICIALS [Z 



DEPARTMENTS OR 
APPOINTIVE OFFICIALS 



o 

COUNCIL PLAN 

CHICAGO. ILLINOIS 



205 



206 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

The organization and powers of a village (or town or 
borough) do not differ widely in the different States. 
Most of the officers are elected by the voters of the village. 
The governing body consists of a president or mayor or 
chief burgess and a body of three or more trustees or 
burgesses or commissioners. In addition to these, there is 
always a clerk, and frequently a treasurer, a tax collector, 
a constable, a justice of the peace, and a board of street 
commissioners. The village government usually renders 
the following services : 

(1) It keeps the peace. 

(2) It holds a court for the trial of minor civil and 
criminal cases. 

(3) It keeps the streets in order and provides good side- 
walks. 

(4) It lights the streets. 

(5) It furnishes a supply of water. 

(6) It supports the public schools. 

(7) It cares for the public health. 

(8) It purchases apparatus for the extinguishing of 
fires. 

Organization of Cities. Since cities are organized under 
State authority, as we pass from State to State we find 
great differences in municipal organization. And in the 
same State there are great differences, for sometimes in 
the same State it is impossible to find two cities organized 
precisely alike. Still, there are in the United States three 
well defined types of city government: (1) the council 
system; (2) the commission system; (3) the city mana- 
ger system. 

I. The Council System. This is the system that is in 
operation in the greatest number of American cities, and 
that conforms most nearly to the American doctrine of the 
separation of powers (p. 24). Under the council system, 
power is divided and given to a city council and a mayor, 
the council exercising the legislative power and the ma.yor 



THE MUNICIPALITIES 207 

exercising the executive power. The council is always a 
representative body, its members being in most cases 
elected from municipal divisions known as wards'. In 
nearly every city the council is a unicameral body. The 
term of office of a member of the council is sometimes as 
short as one year; very often it is two years; it is never 
longer than four years. 

The council regulates and controls the almost innumer- 
able activities of the city government. It provides for 
police protection, for the extinguishing of fires, for the 
lighting, cleaning, and paving of streets, for the construc- 
tion of sewerage and removal of garbage, for the preserva- 
tion of public health, for the support of schools. As the 
municipal legislature it levies the taxes necessary to meet 
the expenses of the city. A perusal of the proceedings of 
a city council, as reported in the dail}^ newspapers, will 
show how profoundly its laws, called ordinances, affect the 
health, safety, peace, comfort, prosperity, intelligence, and 
morality of the city. 

In cities where the council system prevails the executive 
power is vested in a mayor, who is elected by the voters for 
a term varying from one to four years. The powers and 
duties of the mayor within the city are comparable to those 
of the governor within the State. The chief duty of the 
mayor is to carry into effect the laws and ordinances affect- 
ing the municipality. Associated with the mayor in the 
executive branch of a large city, there are numerous heads 
of departments and boards. Some of these are elected by 
the people, others are appointed by the mayor; in a few 
States some of them (for example, the police and health 
commissioners) are appointed by the governor or by the 
State legislature. Serving under these chiefs and boards 
are assistants and employees, the number of whom in- 
creases with the size of the city, and sometimes consists 
of many thousands. A large, weU organized city will usually 
have such departments and boards as are indicated by 
the following outline: 



208 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

(1) Department of Finance: comptroller, board of esti- 
mates, collector of taxes. 

(2) Department of Law: city solicitor, or attorney. 

(3) Department of Public Safety: board of fire commis- 
sioners, commissioner of health, inspector of buildings, com- 
missioner of streets. 

(4) Department of Piiblic Improvement : city engineer, 
water board, inspector of boilers. 

(5) Department of Parks and Squares: board of park 
commissioners. 

(6) Department of Education: board of school commis- 
sioners ; superintendent of schools. 

(7) Department of Charities and Correction: trustees 
of the poor, supervisors of city charities. 

(8) Department of Taxes and Assessments. 

(9) Board of Police Commissioners. 

(10) Miscellaneous: city librarian, 'superintendent of 
lamps and lighting, surveyor, constables, superintendent 
of public buildings, public printer. 

In every large city there is a system of courts, extending 
from the police or magistrate or municipal court up to the 
higher courts ; but the judges of these courts, although they 
may be elected by the people of the city, are not strictly 
officers of the municipal government. Justice being ad- 
ministered in the name of the State, the judicial department 
of a city is merely a portion of the State judiciary acting 
within the borders of the city. 

II. The Commission System. At the opening of the 
twentieth century American communities developed at a 
very rapid rate and their government gave rise to serious 
and perplexing problems. In fact, there was so much 
mismanagement and corruption at this time that municipal 
government was becoming a national shame and disgrace. 
So there was a widespread movement for reform. 

One of the most popular of the municipal reforms con- 
sisted in doing away with the historic council system just 
described, and establishing in its place the commission 



VOTERS OF THE CITY 



1 N iTi/vTi ve: 



REIFEIREIM DU M. 



RECALL. 




5UPT. 







POLICE ■ 


■ FIRE 






PUBLIC 
INSPtaiON 


■ HEALTH 



TREASURER ■ ■ 



MARKET 



AUDITOR 



LEGAL -COURT 



i ASSESSOR 



CITY 
CLERK 



CEME- 
TERIES 



LIBRARY 



PARKS 



PUBLIC 
BUILDINGS 



PUBLIC 
COMMIS- 
SIONS 



o 

□ 



— KE-V — 

ELECTIVE OFFICIALS 

DEPARTMENTS OR 
APPOINTIVE OFFICIALS 







ENGIN- 
EERING 


SERVICE 
SUPER- 
VISION 






BRIDGES 


■ PAVING 






SEWERS 


STREET 
U6HTING 






GRADING 


SIDE 
WALKS 






CURBING I 


STREETS 

■ AND 

ALLEYS 






STREET 
aEANINQ 


CULVERTS 



COMMISSION PLAN 

DBS MOINES, IOWA 



209 



210 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

system. The commission form was organized in Galveston 
after the great inundation of 1900. Des Moines followed 
Galveston in adopting the commission plan, and other 
cities followed in rapid succession. 

Where the commission system is in operation, municipal 
power, both legislative and executive, is vested in a single 
body, usually known as a commission, although this body 
is sometimes called the city council. Under the commis- 
sion system the governing body usually consists of five com- 
missioners (or councilmen) elected by the voters of the 
city at large, there being no ward lines recognized in the 
selection or in the election of this commission. Party lines 
as well as ward lines are disregarded in the election of the 
commission, for candidates are nominated without the aid 
of party machinery and the election is conducted without 
regard to partizan results. One member of the commis- 
sion is the mayor, who presides at the meetings of the 
commission (council), but who has no power to veto any 
measure. The commission passes the ordinances for the 
government and administration of the city, and also car- 
ries the ordinances into effect. 

The executive and administrative authority and duties 
are distributed among several departments. These de- 
partments are usually five in number and are known as 
(1) the department of public affairs, (2) the department 
of accounts and finances, (3) the department of public 
safety, (4) the department of streets and public improve- 
ments, and (5) the department of parks and public prop- 
erty. At the head of each of these departments is placed 
one of the members of the commission, who is the super- 
intendent of his department and who is responsible for 
its workings. The mayor, by virtue of his office, is the 
superintendent of the department of public affairs. The 
superintendents of the other four departments are desig- 
nated by a majority vote of the commission itself. City 
officers, such as the city clerk, the solicitor, the assessor, the 
treasurer, and the like, are usually appointed by the com- 



MUNICIPALITIES 211 

mission, although in some cases these officers are elected. 

Thus it is seen that under the commission plan very great 
power is lodged in a small body of men. But the com- 
mission (council) is not likely often to abuse its power, for 
wherever the commission system has been installed the peo- 
ple have usually reserved for themselves the powers re- 
siding in the initiative and referendum and in the recall 
(p. 158) . Where these devices are in operation the commis- 
sion is held directly responsible and accountable to the 
electorate. 

Thus it is seen that the essential characteristics of the 
commission are these: (1) It concentrates authority by 
giving power to a small body of officials; (2) it provides for 
the election of the commissioners by the city at large in- 
stead of by wards, thus giving every citizen a chance to 
vote for the most desirable candidates, regardless of the 
section of the city in which they reside; (3) it tends to do 
away with partizanship in the choice of commissioners; 
(4) it places each commissioner in charge of a definite de- 
partment and makes him responsible to the people for 
its management; (5) it gives the people an opportunity to 
bring into use the initiative and referendum and the recall. 

The commission system seems to have justified itself by 
its fruits. It has recommended itself to the people in all 
parts of the country, and the cities that have adopted it 
have, as a rule, found it much more satisfactorj^ than the 
old council system. In 1920 more than four hundred cities 
were governed under the commission. Among these were 
Buffalo, Newark, St. Paul, Portland (Oregon), Duluth, 
Spokane, Tacoma, Omaha, Oakland, Kansas City (Kansas), 
Louisville, Lincoln, Jersey City, Trenton, Memphis, Hous- 
ton, Birmingham, Nashville, Dallas, Sioux City, Springfield 
(111.), Superior, New Orleans, Passaic, Paterson, Pueblo, 
Fort Worth, Harrisburg, Hartford, Knoxville, Lowell, Law- 
rence (Massachusetts), Sacramento, Erie, Denver, and Salt 
Lake City. 

HI. The City Manager System. This is a modifica- 



212 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

tion, or rather an advanced form, of the commission sys- 
tem. It has for its aim a greater concentration of the 
executive authority than that provided by the commis- 
sion plan. Where the city manager plan has been adopted, 
the entire administration of the affairs of the city is in- 
trusted to a single executive officer — the city manager — 
appointed by an elective commission (or council). The 
power of the city manager extends to the appointment 
and dismissal of most, if not all, of the city officers and to 
all of the employees in all of the departments. Under 
the manager plan the commission is a purely legislative 
body ; the commission enacts the ordinances, and the mana- 
ger enforces them. The most important requirement of 
the system is that the manager must be an expert in muni- 
cipal affairs. He is secured from any place in which he 
may be found, and is employed solely because of his effi- 
ciency as a city executive. 

The manager plan w^as first put into operation in 1912 
in the little city of Sumter, South Carolina. The next 
year, after the great flood in the Miami Valley, the city of 
Dayton, taking advantage of the ''home rule" feature of 
the Ohio constitution (p. 66), framed for itself a charter 
providing for a city manager. When it came to appoint 
the manager, it selected a man from another part of the 
country, paying him a handsome salary. City after city 
followed the example of Dayton, and by 1920 more than 
one hundred and seventy municipalities had adopted the 
city manager plan. Among these were Akron, Ashtabula, 
Sandusky, Springfield, and Xenia, in Ohio ; Grand Rapids, 
Jackson, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Alpena, Cadillac and Man- 
istee in Michigan ; San Jose, San Diego, Bakersfield, Santa 
Barbara and Alameda in California; Wichita and El Do- 
rado in Kansas; Wheeling and Charleston in West Vir- 
ginia ; Auburn, Watertown and Niagara Falls City, in New 
York; Lynchburg, Norfolk and Roanoke, in Virginia; Du- 
buque, Clarinda and AVebster City, in Iowa; Boulder and 
Durango, in Colorado; and Altoona, in Pennsylvania. 



VOTERS OF THE CITY 

INlTIA-riVEl REFEIRENDUM RECALL 




LIBRARY 
BOARD 




CIVIL SERVICE 
BOARD 




cle:rk of 
commission 



CITY MANAGER 



LAW 



PUBLI C 
SERVICE 



PUBLIC 
WELFARE 



PUBLIC 
SAFETY 



FINANCE 



J DIRECTOR. : DIRECTOR.! ' DIRECTOR' " DIRECTOR ' | DIRECTOR ' 



STREETS 



ENGIN- 
EERING 



WATER 



LEGAL AID- 



LAND5 
&BLDG5 



HEALTH 



RECRE- 
ATION 



CORREQION 



POLICE 



PARKS 



■■ FIRE 



WLIGHT5 

AND 
MEASURES 



RECEIPTS 
OlSOunS- 



3UILD1NG 
INSPECTION 



■ IRW5URY 



PURCHASING 



FREE 
EHPLOrMfNTi 



— KEV 



O ELECTIVE OFFICIALS I 1 DEPARTMENTS OR 

CLiK. nvL urriLiMLO | j ^ppQiNiivE OFFICIALS 

CITY MANAGER PLAN 

DAYTON, OHIO 



21: 



214 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Honesty and Vigilance the Price of Good City Govern- 
ment. While many good things have come out of the 
commission sj^stem, it would be a mistake to suppose that 
recent progress in municipal affairs is due wholly to new 
types of organization. For many cities working under the 
old council system have joined in the movement for re- 
form, and have achieved results fully as satisfactory as 
those organized under the commission plan, thus giving 
force to Pope's famous couplet: 

For forms of government let fools contest ; 
That whicli is better administered is best. 

Forms are highly important, for there are good forms 
and bad forms ; but form alone is not enough. If munici- 
pal affairs are to be well managed, there must be absolute 
honesty in the doings of city officials, and there must be 
untiring vigilance upon the part of citizens. No govern- 
mental machine, however wisely constructed, will do its 
work well if dishonest men are operating it or if it is left 
to run itself. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Under what circumstances does government under a municipal 
incorporation become necessary? 

2r. Into what two classes may municipal incorporations be di- 
vided ? 

3. Describe the organization of the village and borough. 

4. Give an account of the council system. 

5. Give an account of the commission system. 

6. Give an account of the city manager plan. 

7. Name two indispensable conditions of good municipal gov- 
ernment. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 
{For Students Living in Smaller Municipalities) 



1. Secure, if possible, a copy of your municipal charter and learn 
the boundaries, the titles of the officers, and the powers of your 
municipality. 

2. Secure the names of the officers who are now serving in the 
offices in your town. Which of these are serving without pay? 



MUNICIPALITIES 215 

3- What can you say of the condition of the streets of your town ? 
of the efficiency of your fire department? of the efficiency of your 
police department? of the success of your school system? 

4. Look around you and discover something that you as pupils 
may do to improve your town. (Let each student mention one 
thing.) 

5. You have discovered a few things that you as students may do 
for the betterment of ■ town affairs. Now organize as a civic club 
and set about doing these things. 

6. Would you vote for a town officer regardless of the political 
party to which he belongs? Give reasons for your answer. 

7. Name all of the chartered municipalities situated in the county 
in which you live. 

8. To what extent is your town under county government? 

9. Is your city governed under the commission form? If so, 
name the members of the commission, state their terms of office, 
their salaries, their duties. If there is a city manager, give an ac- 
count of his powers. If this city is not under the commission form, 
would it be advisable for it to adopt this form? Give reasons for or 
against making the change. 

10. Which is of more consequence to the citizen in his every-day 
life, the action of the State legislature or the action of the city 
council (or commission) ? (Do not answer this question hastily.) 

II 

{For Students Living in Cities) 

1. Compare the organization of your city with the one outlined 
in the text. As your city increases in population what changes will 
have to be made in its government? 

2. What is the length of the mayor's term of office? What is his 
salary? What officers and boards does he appoint? 

3. Describe the organization of your city council. What is the 
method of representation in this council? Do you know the name 
of the person who represents your ward in the council? Bound the 
ward in which you live. 

4. (See exercise 4 above, substituting "city" for "town.") 

5. (See suggestion 5 above.) 

6. A citizen of a city said : "I always vote at State and national 
elections, but I never vote at municipal elections." In what particu- 
lar was this citizen neglecting his personal interest? What special 
qualities of citizenship are necessary in a city? 

7. Make out a list of the services performed within the boundaries 
of your city by the national. State, and municipal governments 
Respectively. 

8. Name a few of the influences that make for bad city govern- 
ment. Can any of these be overcome? 

9. What agencies are now at work in your city for the improve- 
ment of its government? 



216 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Topics for Speciaj. Work 

1. Merits and Limitations of Commission Government: Bruere, 

69-92. 

2. The City Council: Goodnow and Bates, 179-229. 

3. Municipal Administration: Zueblin, 376-394. 

4. The Commission Government Movement: Bru&re, 40-68. 

5. The City, the Battle Ground of Democracy: Kaye, 503-506. 

6. The City Manager Plan: Munro, 631-632. 



XXVII 
PARTY ORGANIZATION 

In an earlier chapter, when considering the subject of party gov- 
ernment in its broad characteristics, we learned that government in 
the United States, whether State or national, is conducted through 
the agency of political parties (p. 69). Since this is so, it is 
proper that the subject of party organization should receive careful 
attention. 

Nomination of Candidates. One of the most important of 
the services performed by a political party is to nominate 
candidates for office. A person may announce himself as 
a candidate and secure votes for himself without being 
named as the candidate of a party, but it seldom happens 
that any one is elected to an important office in this way. 
Before one can hope for success at the polls one must first 
receive the indorsement of a political party. A nomination 
by a party is an announcement to voters from a responsible 
source that the candidate named possesses personal fitness 
for the office to which he aspires, and that his political 
views agree with the doctrines professed by the party. In 
a great democracy intelligent voting is almost impossible 
unless candidates are agreed upon before election day. 

Permanent Party Organization. The work of a political 
party does not end on election night when the ballots have 
been counted. The life of a party must be supported from 
one election to the next ; and this is done by means of a 
permanent organization, which is maintained throughout 
the length and breadth of the land. In almost every town- 
ship, village, election district, and city ward, each of the 
great parties has its permanent local committee of manage- 

217 



218 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ment. Likewise it has its permanent county, city, and 
State committees. Above all these it has a permanent 
National Committee, consisting of one member from each of 
the States and Territories. 

These permanent committees do the heavy work of poli- 
tics. Indeed, they do all the work of politics except vot- 
ing*. They issue calls for the nominating conventions to be 
described below; they organize political clubs; they ar- 
range for political mass meetings and processions; they 
solicit funds for conducting campaigns; they urge voters 
to be registered, and then urge them to come to the polls ; 
in many other ways they promote and defend the interests 
of the party, through good and ill report, after defeat 
as well as after success. 

The members of these party committees are generally 
experienced politicians, and they know how to organize 
and control men. They are skilled in determining what the 
rank and file of the party desire, and they are quick to 
respond to the commands of public opinion. Their services 
are generally performed without compensation. In many 
instances, however, in the event of party success, they ex- 
pect to hold office themselves, or to assist their friends to 
office, or to profit personally in some other way. 

Primaries. The chief task of the permanent committees 
is to superintend the nominating machinery and keep it 
well oiled. This machinery is set in motion at the pri- 
maries. These are meetings or elections where the voters 
of the party may express in a direct manner their wishes 
in respect to party management. Primaries can be con- 
trolled by the voters of the party, and if they are con- 
trolled by the party managers — as too often they are — 
it is the fault of the voters themselves. 

For many years the primary, like the entire party organ- 
ization, was an extra-legal, voluntary institution. It was 
controlled by rules made by party managers, and whether 
it was conducted honestly or otherwise was not an affair 



PUBUC ACTS, 190&— No. §8V. 



No.. 



OFFICIAL PRIMARY BALLOT. 
' Primary- Election * ^ »,...., 

Party. "' 

Make a cross in the square [x] in front of as many name,'? for each office 
as is indicated under the title of .such office. 



NATIONAL. 



United States Senator. 
Vote for one. 

□ JAMES H. FLYNN. 

□ GEORGE J. GLASIER. 

□ FRANK H. RILEY. 

STATE. 

\ Governor, f 
Vote for one. 

□ RICHARD ROE. 

(~J JOHN ROSWELI* 

□ EDWARD H. SMITH. 



CONGRESSIONAL 



Representative in Congress. District- 
Vote for one. 

Q WILLIAM DUNNING. 

□ JAMES MARA. 

□ THOMAS J. WAGNER. 

LEGISL.\TIVE. 

i— — — — . _— . 

\ State Senator. District. 
Vote for one. 

□ WILLIAM BROWN. 

□ CASPER DUNN. ( 

£3 MICHAEL J. MURRAY. 



Repr6.'?erttauves in State Legi§U» 

ture. District. 

Vote for one. 



□ OWEN DOLAN. 



□ EDWARD GIBBONS. 



□ RICHARD HUGHES. 



COUNTY. 



Judge of Probate. 
« Vote for one. 



□ PRANK CAMPBELL. 



□ CH.ARLES SCULLEN, 



□ HENRY J. WILKINSON. 



Circuit Court Comniissiouei's. 
Vote for two. 



□ CLIFFORD BISHOP. 



□ CLIFFORD CROSTIC. 

□ HENRY ROACH. 



□ HARRY SELSBEE. 



□ OJKB C. TRASK. 



□ CHARLES WHITE. 



Del^ates to county couvention. 
Vote for 



, A Sample Ballot for_Direct.Nomination_of.O£acers 
219 



220 THE AMEEICAN DEMOCRACY 

of governmental concern. If at the primary election there 
were cheating and irregularities, no one could be punished. 
But in recent years primaries have been placed under the 
control of the law, and have been conducted as regularly 
and as honestly as other elections are conducted. 

Direct Nominations. In most of the States the nomination 
of candidates is accomplished at the primaries by the direct 
vote of the members of the party. That is to say, the 
voters of a party go to a primary meeting, which is managed 
in the same way as a regular election, and vote directly for 
candidates. Thus, under the direct system, the voters 
select their own party candidates; they do not intrust the 
selection to party representatives or to the action of party 
conventions. When county officers, for example, are to be 
nominated, the voters of the party, instead of electing 
delegates to a county convention authorized to nominate 
these officers, express their choice for candidates at primary 
elections held throughout the county, and the candidates 
who win at the primaries are put on the ticket as the 
regular party nominees. If a candidate for governor is to 
be chosen, the voters of the party throughout the State 
express their choice at the primaries, and the person most 
in favor at the primaries becomes the regular party can- 
didate for governor. If a candidate for President is to be 
nominated, the voters at the primaries elect the delegates 
to the National Convention, which nominates the party 
candidate for President and Vice-President. In about 
twenty States — and the number is increasing — the voters, 
when choosing delegates to the National Convention, are 
given an opportunity to express their preference in respect 
to the Presidential candidates. Thus, where the direct 
system of nominations has been adopted, the voters partic- 
ipate personal!}' in the nomination of all candidates, from 
the lowest to the highest. 

The direct system of nominations has not worked well 
in all of the States in which it has been tried. Too often 



PARTY ORGANIZATION 221 

indifference, the great enemy of democracy (p. 6), pre- 
vails among- the voters, and large numbers of them fail 
to participate in the primaries. The result is that the 
real will of the people is not ascertained. This failure on 
the part of the people to make known their wishes about 
such an important matter is a cause for great regret. 
Voters, by neglecting their duties at the primaries, in- 
flict upon democracy an irreparable injury. 

The Convention System. In States in which the voters at 
the primaries do not nominate candidates directly, the 
party convention is called into action. If county officers 
are to be elected, the voters at the primaries choose dele- 
gates to a county convention, and at this convention the 
candidates for the county offices are named. If municipal 
officers are to be nominated, delegates to a city convention 
are elected, and at this convention candidates for the 
municipal officers are nominated. Likewise, State officers 
are nominated at a State convention composed of delegates 
elected either by county (or city) conventions or by the 
voters at the primaries. 

In a year in which a President is to be nominated, the 
State convention passes resolutions expressing its political 
views, naming its choice for presidential candidate — if it 
happens to have a choice — and in some cases elects dele- 
gates to a National Convention, the number of the dele- 
gates being twice the number of representatives that the 
State has in both branches of Congress. In most cases, 
however, a State convention elects only four delegates 
(called delegates-at-large) to the National Convention, the 
other delegates to which the State is entitled being elected 
at congressional district conventions, two delegates being 
chosen from each district. Sometimes the State conven- 
tion selects candidates for presidential electors, but as a 
rule the electoral candidates are selected at the congres- 
sional district conventions. 

Presidential Campaign. After the delegates in all the 



222 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

States and Territories have been chosen, either by the direct 
vote of the people at the primaries or by conventions, they 
assemble in some convenient city as the great National Con- 
vention. This body, consisting of more than a thousand 
men and women, after several days of discussion, expresses 
the views of the party upon public questions in the shape 
of a platform, and chooses candidates for President and 
Vice-President. 

After all the political parties have named their candi- 
dates the struggle for election begins. Political meetings 
are held, the claims of the candidates are urged, the plat- 
forms are explained and defended, and everything that can 
be done to influence voters is done. 

The campaign, with all its faults, is a most wholesome 
element in our public life. It is the school-time of democ- 
racy. By it, men's attention is strongly attracted to pub- 
lic affairs, civic spirit is awakened, and voters are educated. 
The greatest objection to lengthening the presidential term 
is that to do so would be to deprive the people of the great 
educational advantage of frequent presidential campaigns. 

The campaign continues until the election day in Novem- 
ber, when the voters render their decision. They do not 
vote for a President directly, but for electors, as the Con- 
stitution provides (146). Since these electors are nomi- 
nated and elected by a party, they are morally bound to 
vote for the candidate of the party that elected them, and 
no elector has ever proved unfaithful to the party that 
elected him. The President is, therefore, really elected at 
the polls. 

The electors chosen in November meet in their respective 
States in January and vote for President and Vice-Presi- 
dent. The results of this vote are despatched from the 
several States to the president of the Senate at Washing- 
ton, and on the second Wednesday in February Congress 
meets to count the votes. The person receiving the ma- 
jority of the votes cast for President is declared to be 
elected, and the person receiving the majority of the votes 



PARTY ORGANIZATION 223 

cast for Vice-President is declared to be elected. When no 
person receives a majority of all the electoral votes, the Con- 
stitution provides that the House of Representatives shall 
choose a President and the Senate a Vice-President, and 
states precisely how the election shall be conducted (148). 

Questions on the Text 

1. What services do political parties render when they nominate 
candidates for office? 

2. Describe the permanent organization of a political party. 

3. Give an account of the primaries and point out their impor- 
tance. 

4. Describe the system of direct nominations. 

5. Describe the convention system. 

6. Give an account of a presidential campaign and of the elec- 
tion of a President. 

SuGKjESTivE Questions and Exercises 

1. Are primaries in this State legalized? If they are not, is 
there a strong sentiment in favor of legalizing them? 

2. Are the politicians whom you personally know better or worse 
than their neighbors? (Avoid using or suggesting any names.) 

3. How many electoral votes has this State? 

4. What Presidents were elected by Congress? 

5. Show that it is theoretically possible for a man to be elected 
President without receiving a majority of the votes cast. 

6. Show that it is theoretically possible for a single vote at the 
polls to decide a presidential contest. 

Topics for Special Work 

1. What the Party Machine Has to Do: Jones, 175-178. 

2. The Election of the President: Jones, 106-114. 

3. The Electoral College: Jones, 115-124. 

4. The Party Machine: Kaye, 373-378. 

5. Primary Election Legislation: Kaye, 378-384. 

6. Organization of Political Parties: 411-414. 



\ . k, .. 



PART III 

THE FUNCTIONS OF THE AMERICAN 
GOVERNMENT 

Its Services 



XXVIII 
THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT 

In the first part of this book the great principles and fundamental 
ideas of the American political system were considered, and in the 
second part the formal organization of the several grades of govern- 
ment that are included in that system veas studied. In this, the 
third part, we shall be concerned with what our government does ; 
that is, we shall be concerned with the functions or services of the 
American government. But before we take up the particular topics 
of this division it will be best tc glance at the subject of govern- 
mental functions in general. 

Scope of Governmental Activity. The services rendered 
by the different governments of the earth vary with the 
racial instincts and character of the people whom the 
governments serve. They vary not only from country to 
country, but they also change in the same country from 
year to year. It follows, therefore, that any enumeration 
of the functions of government must be more or less typical 
in character. Still, such an enumeration is useful, since 
it gives a general idea of the scope and nature of govern- 
mental activity. A typical progressive government like 
our own does the following things : 

(1) It makes new laws to meet the ever-changing condi- 
tions of society. 

(2) It renders justice between man and man, and be- 
tween man and the State. 

(3) It provides a defense against foes. 

(4) It protects and promotes its international interests. 

(5) It supports itself by means of taxation. 

(6) It borrows money in times of stress. 

(7) It coins money and provides a currency adequate 
for the needs of trade. 

227 



228 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

(8) It regulates foreign commerce. 

(9) It regulates immigration. 

(10) It exercises control over the agencies of transporta- 
tion. 

(11) It strives to prevent monopoly and encourages 
competition in business. 

(12) It conserves natural resources. 

(13) It conducts the election of public officers. 

(14) It provides for the education of the young. 

(15) It guards the interests of workingmen. 

(16) It strives by special legislation to improve living 
conditions. 

(17) It defines and punishes crime. 

(18) It helps paupers and incapables. 

(19) It safeguards the public health. 

(20) It promotes the public safety and the public 
morality. 

(21) It promotes the welfare of the people in urban 
and in rural communities. 

Nearly every modern civilized government does all of the 
above things, and some governments do much more. In 
most of the countries of Europe the railroads, the telephone 
and telegraph systems, and in some instances the mines, 
are operated by the government. In many of the cities 
of Europe the scope of governmental authority is still fur- 
ther enlarged, embracing not only such functions as the 
supplying of gas and water, but extending to such services 
as the maintenance of public baths, laundries, pawn-shops, 
savings-banks, and lodging-houses. In London the city 
government has gone so far as to supply sanitary milk to 
the poor classes. 

Government and the Individual The functions of govern- 
ment in all progressive countries are increasing and must 
continue to increase. Civilization is growing more com- 
plex; human interests are multiplying and conflicting with 
one another as never before; population is increasing with 



THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT 229 

startling rapidity and is crowding into the cities; inven- 
tion and processes of manufacture and methods of business 
are changing the face of the industrial world. The cir- 
cumstances of this modern life do not permit the large in- 
dividual freedom of former days. In order to make the 
proper social adjustments under the new conditions, gov- 
ernment must step in and do things that it has not done 
before, and that in a past age it would not have ventured 
to do, and with each new function added to government 
personal liberty is to some degree curtailed. The indi- 
vidual withers as the state grows more and more. 

But government in a democracy can not assume an addi- 
tional function without the consent of the voters. The 
voter, therefore, is constantly called upon to determine the 
proper limits of governmental activity. Shall the gov- 
ernment operate the railroads, or shall individuals con- 
tinue to operate them? Shall the municipal government 
furnish the people with ice, as it furnishes them with 
water, or shall the ice be furnished by private enterprise? 
Shall the government carry telegraphic messages, as it 
carries letters, or shall the telegraph business remain in 
private hands? Shall the municipality provide a free 
lunch for school children, as it provides free text-books, or 
shall parents attend to the lunches? Shall government 
regulate the hours of labor, or shall each man be permitted 
to work as many or as few hours as he pleases? In all 
such questions the voter must decide either in favor of the 
individual or in favor of the state. 

Political science can not point out to the voter precisely 
what government should do and what it should not do, for 
the sphere of government cannot be circumscribed "by 
the ring fence of a definition"; but political science can 
sound a note of warning. The most judicious of all men 
who have written on the subject of human liberty, John 
Stuart Mill, has sounded this note in the clearest tones. 

''Whatever theory," he says, 'Sve may adopt respecting 
the foundation of the social union, and under whatever 



230 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

political institutions we live, there is a circle around every 
individual human being which no government, be it that 
of one, of a few, or of the many, ought to be permitted to 
overstep; there is a part of the life of every person who 
has come to years of discretion within which the individu- 
ality of that person ought to reign uncontrolled either by 
any individual or by the public collectively. This reserved 
territory ought to include all that part which concerns only 
the life, whether inward or outward, of the individual, 
and does not affect the interests of others, or affects them 
only through the moral influence of example." Here is 
a test that should be applied to every proposed extension 
of governmental authority. When government is per- 
mitted to invade one's private life and make regulations in 
respect to matters that do not directly and closely and 
powerfully affect the outer social world, human liberty 
suffers a loss for which no governmental service, however 
great, is likely to be a full compensation. 

Individualists ; Socialists. In the field of practical politics 
we find men differing widely in their views as to the proper 
sphere of government. One class, known as individualists, 
believe that the state should be severely limited in its 
activities. The individualists would have the government 
protect the nation against foes, and persons and property 
against violations ; and to these merely protective functions 
he would add certain others, such as the management of 
the post-office, the establishment of public schools, the im- 
provement of rivers and harbors, the maintenance of high- 
ways, and the regulation of the means of transportations- 
Further than this the individualist is reluctant to go, for he 
believes that to go further would be to trespass upon a field 
of activity that properly belongs to private enterprise and 
effort. 

Opposed to the individualists are the socialists. The 
socialists believe in an enormous increase in the functions 
of government. Under socialism the state would own and 



THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT 231 

control not only all the means of transportation and com- 
munication — railroads, steamboats, canals, telegraph and 
telephone lines — but it would also own and control all the 
means and instruments of production — the mines and 
forests and farming lands, and shops and factories and 
mills. Under sach a program individual enterprise would 
disappear almost entirely, and there would be substituted 
in its place the collective effort of society. The state 
would be a great joint stock company whose membership 
would comprise the whole body of citizens, and whose ob- 
ject would be to provide for the material wants of its mem- 
bership. Of course, if the state should be the sole pro- 
ducer, it follows that it would also make a distribution of 
the products, giving to each person (each member of the 
joint stock company) his just portion of the goods pro- 
duced. What the portion of a given individual would be 
would depend upon the quantity and quality of the labor 
that the individual performed. If a person able to work 
performed no labor at all, he would get no portion at all 
and would consequently starve to death. Under the social- 
ist program everybody able to work would be compelled to 
work. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Enumerate the functions of a typical progressive government. 

2. What circumstances tend to strengthen the state at the expense 
of the individual? 

3. What is Mill's rule for the limitation of governmental au- 
thority? . . X X ^1, 

4. What is the doctrine of the individualist m respect to the 
functions of government? 

5. What is the doctrine of the socialist in respect to the func- 
tions of government? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Enumerate the functions of your town or city government. Is 
it doing anything that could be better done by private enterprise? 
What things are now being done by private enterprise that could be 
better done by the municipal government? 

2. Where is there more individual liberty, in the city or m the 
country ? 



232 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

3. Prepare a ten-minute paper on "The Municipal Functions of 
Glasgow." (Consult Shaw's "Municipal Government in Great 
Britain.") 

4. Determine in which of the following instances there would be 
a violation of the rule laid doA\Ti by Mill and given in the text: The 
government (a) compels everybody to be vaccinated; (&) forbids 
the reading of certain books; (c) forbids the sale of certain books; 

{d) furnishes the milk that must be drunk; (e) furnishes the virus 
that must be used in vaccination; (/) compels everybody to attend 
church; (g) compels everybody to attend a certain church; (/<.) for- 
bids the sale of oleomargarin ; (i) compels dealers to label oleomar- 
garin as such; (j) forbids the use of oleomargarin altogether; {k) 
compels parents to send their children to school; (Z) compels parents 
to send their children to certain schools. 

5. Of the following enterprises name one, if there is one, that 
should be undertaken by government in this country: (a) The opera- 
tion of telegraph lines; (h) the operation of railroads; (c) the 
operation of trolley lines in cities; {d) the operation of coal mines; 
(e) the manufacture and sale of gunpowder; (/) the manufacture 
and sale of illuminating gas; (g) the manufacture and sale of ice. 

6. If government should undertake the enterprises named above, 
to which of the several grades of government, local State, or fed- 
eral, would each enterprise be assigned ? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Functions of Government: Bullock, 514-528; Gettell, 501- 

519. 

2. Personal Liberty vs. Governmental Authority: Kaye, 392-397. 

3. Outlines for the Socialist State: Spargo, 235-276. 

4. Socialism in the Light of Sociology: Ellwood, 354-370. 

5. Governmental Enterprise in the jSTon-Essentials : Kaye, 402-410. 



XXIX 

LAWS 

One of the constant services of a popular government is to make 
laws suitable to the ever-changing conditions of society. Since the 
American voter is indirectly a law-maker — where the initiative and 
referendum are in use he is a direct law-maker — he ought to have 
clear and just notions respecting the nature of laws. He ought to 
know what a law is and what are the characteristic features of a 
law, and he ought to have sound ideas in respect to what law can do 
and what it can not do. In this chapter we shall consider those 
phases of the subject of law that are of practical interest to citizens 
and voters. 

What a Law Is; Different Kinds of Law. A law is a 

formal expression of the will of society in respect to some 
matter of social concern; it is a rnle of action made by 
government and enforced by the sovereign authority of 
the state. A rule of action that can not invoke for its 
enforcement the whole power of the state is not a law in the 
sense in which the word is here used. 

A useful classification of American laws may be made 
by considering their origin and grouping them according 
to the sources from which they have emanated. Such a 
classification gives us the following groups of laws: 

(1) Constitutions (federal and State). 

(2) Initiative and Refer endum Laws. These originate 
with the people and are a direct expression of the people's 
will. 

(3) Statutory Laws. These are the laws that have been 
formally passed and promulgated by a legislative body. 
They include the treaties made by the United States, the 
statutes of Congress and of the State legislatures, the or- 
dinances of municipal councils, and the by-laws of to^\Ti- 

233 



234 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

meetings. There must be placed in this class also those 
laws of the colonial assemblies and of the British Parlia- 
ment that were in force in the colonies at the time of the 
Revolution and that have never been repealed. 

(4) The Common Law. A fourth class of laws consists 
of a set of rules and principles that have not been pro- 
mulgated by a legislature, but that have grown out of 
custom and usage and have been gathered from judicial 
decisions (p. 178) and from the opinions of jurists. These 
rules and principles constitute the common law. Consti- 
tutional laws and statutory laws are written, but the com- 
mon law may be said to be unwritten, for its rules are not 
formulated specifically in written documents. Most of the 
rules of the common law came to us from England ; but cus- 
tom is making laws in America all the time, and when an 
American custom has hardened into a ftiw that law is to 
be classified as belonging to the common law. The rules 
of the common law are so fundamental and so important 
that they are often called the "great body of the law" — 
the vital principles of all law. 

Some of the Characteristic Features of Law. Among the 
characteristic features of a law are several that frequently 
have a practical bearing upon daily conduct: (1) All laws 
are equally binding. If a law originated from a rightful 
source and conflicts with no higher law, it is binding, what- 
ever may be its origin. A by-law of a town-meeting is as 
relentless in its operations as a law of Congress, and if 
necessary armies and fleets will assist in its enforcement. 
(2) The law is no respecter of persons. Everybody, rich 
or poor, high or low, who comes within the scope of the 
authority of a law must obey it. (3) Ignorance of the law 
excuses no one. When a law is passed, means are some- 
times taken to give it publicity by advertising it in news- 
papers, but government does not undertake to inform every- 
body of every law that is passed. It is assumed that citi- 
zens are able to learn what the law is, and the maxim is 



LAWS 235 

that "to be able to know is the same as to know." This 
rule sometimes works hardships, but it could not safely be 
changed. (4) A law remains in force until it is repealed. 
''Laws sometimes sleep, but never die." 

Law-Making and Public Opinion. For the regulation of 
the varied interests and activities of our busy and progres- 
sive life, thousands of laws have been made and thousands 
more are making. This production of laws can not cease. 
As a community develops, the laws must keep pace with 
the new conditions. Steam has called forth hundreds of 
laws, and electricity is constantly presenting problems for 
the consideration of the law-maker. Not only must new 
laws be made, but old ones must be repealed or amended. 
The ideas of men concerning right and justice change, and 
it is the business of the legislature to make the law con- 
form to existing views. To meet the demand for new 
legislation the energies of our legislatures, municipal, State, 
and federal, are taxed to the utmost. Frequently more 
than a thousand laws are passed at a single session of a 
State legislature, and it has been estimated that the com- 
bined output of Congress and of all the State legislatures is 
nearly twenty thousand laws every year. 

In this hurly-burly of law-making the voter takes a 
part: he chooses the representatives who make the laws, 
and in this way is brought very close to the actual work of 
legislation. When considering a proposed law there is one 
rule the voter should keep in mind, and that rule is this: 
A law should not be enacted if public opinion is strong 
against it. Public opinion is the moral force that at a 
given time sways and controls a community. This force 
may be low or it may be elevated, but it is always a con- 
trolling force. In an absolute monarchy, as well as in a 
republic, successful resistance to public opinion is quite im- 
possible. If people are ruled by a despot, it is because 
they desire to be ruled in that way; the despotism falls as 
soon as public opinion is hurled against it. Laws as well 



236 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

as other things must bend to this irresistible power. In 
deed, we may say that a good and useful law should al- 
ways be enacted by public opinion before it is passed 
through the legislature. 

We can not always tell on which side of a question pub- 
lic opinion really stands, and can not for this reason al- 
ways determine in advance whether a proposed law will 
receive its support or not. We may not be able to tell 
what public opinion will do, but there are several things 
we may confidently predict it will not do : 

(1) It will not support laws that require for their en- 
forcement a much higher average of morality than that 
which already exists. A member of a State legislature in- 
troduced a bill enacting the ten commandments and the 
golden rule into laws. If the people of the State at the 
time were generally obeying the commandments and the 
golden rule his bill was not altogether absurd, but if they 
were considerably below this grade of morality his bill w^as 
as preposterous as it would have been if it had provided 
that all men should be happy, and that rivers should flow 
with milk and honey. Legislation may punish law- 
breakers, but it can not make men good. 

(2) It will not support laivs that provide for a wide 
departure from present haibits and customs. Men are 
creatures of habit ; they are prone to act to-day as they 
acted yesterday; and when a law demands a sudden and 
radical change in deeply rooted customs it does violence to 
human nature. Englishmen are accustomed to say that 
there is nothing which their Parliament can not do. There 
is doubtless one thing it can not do : it can not make the 
people of England abandon their clumsy custom of reckon- 
ing money in pounds, shillings, and pence. 

(3) It will not support ideal schemes of government. 
Society is a mixture of good and evil; and, while the ma- 
jority of men in a state are never utterly base, neither is 
the majority ever supremely good. Laws, therefore, that 
are framed upon the assumption that men are ideal crea- 



LAWS 237 

tures will not secure the support of public opinion. Here 
is where well-meaning people often err. They plan for a 
state in which there is no selfishness or injustice or wrong- 
doing. They construct ideal commonwealths, apparently 
forgetful of the fact that they themselves would not be will- 
ing to live for six months under one of their own creations. 
Many ideal commonwealths have been proposed, but no sane 
man ever yearned to live in one of them. Public opinion 
will support laws that make for the betterment of social 
conditions — it is constantl}^ doing this — but it will ruth- 
lessly shatter the fabrications of dreamers. Still, there 
should he no sneer for the reformer; for, after all, it is 
he that does most to elevate public opinion and to lead 
men to higher and better things. 

(4) It will not support arbitrary or whimsical laws. 
Very often the lav/ has attempted to regulate things that 
ought to be left to regulate themselves. Thus, laws have 
been passed limiting the number of dishes to be served at 
a dinner, and prescribing the kind of jewelry that might 
be worn. A Scottish parliament was once rash enough to 
attempt to regulate the amount of money that women 
should spend for dress. Regulations of this kind are called 
sumptuary laws. They have nearly always failed to re- 
ceive the support of public opinion. 

Obedience to Law. Laws that do not receive the support 
of public opinion are sure to be violated, while the violators 
go unpunished. This is the great mischief of such laws. 
A law is made to be obeyed. We may not like a law ; we 
may think a law foolish or harsh or unjust; yet, as long 
as it is a law, we should obey it. To obey a bad law might 
work some temporary inconveniences, but these would not 
be so regrettable as would be the habit of violating the law 
with impunity. Obedience to the law is an essential fea- 
ture of good citizenship under any form of government. 
Especially is this true in a democracy, v/here all laws flow 
from the people, and where the citizen looks to law and not 



238 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

to a monarch, not to a person, for the protection of his 
rights. When citizens in a democracy begin to lose their 
respect and reverence for the law and to disregard its 
commands, they are preparing a way for anarchy, and 
anarchy leads to despotism. Society can exist only where 
the laws are obeyed, and it is sure society must and will 
exist. If the people will not obey their own laws the 
tyrant will come forward and impose his laws upon them 
and compel obedience. The man on horseback, the man of 
blood and iron, is better than social chaos. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is a law? Classify our laws with respect to the sources 
from which they have emanated. What is the common law? 

2. What are the several characteristic features of a law? 

3. What connection is there between voting and law-making? 

4. Define "public opinion." 

5. Name the kind of laws public opinion is not likely to support. 

6. Give reasons why laws should be obeyed. What would be 
the result of a general disregard of laws? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Name some new inventions that will be likely to call forth 
new laws. 

2. "A law passed to-day ought not to bind future generations. A 
law ought to repeal itself after it has been in force for twenty-five 
years." What would be the disadvantages of limiting the binding 
force of all laws to a brief period? 

3. Would you vote for a law which provided that no child under 
twelve years of age should appear on the streets alone after nine 
o'clock in the evening? for a law which forbade ladies to wear the 
feathers of birds in their hats? for a law which forbade boys to 
smoke cigarettes? for a law which forbade girls to chew gum? for 
a law which compelled street-car companies to furnish seats to all 
passengers? for a law which forbade the ringing of church bells? for 
a law which provided that pupils should always know their lessons? 
Give reasons for each of your answers. 

4. "The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it." Is 
it better for judges to enforce a bad law and thus hasten its formal 
repeal by a legislature, or to allow violators of it to go unpunished ? 

5. Name a few of the social and intellectual forces that go to 
make up public opinion. 

6. What will be the course of a true statesman who finds that his 
opinion does not agree with public opinion? 

7. Define statute, hy-law, ordinance, constitution. 



LAWS 239 

8. Watch the proceedings of the State legislature and of Congress 
and report important legislation. (Your Representative in Congress 
will probably furnish you with the "Congressional Eecord.") 

9. Read Thomas More's Utopia and mention the things in Utopia 
which you like and which you believe would be supported by public 
opinion in the United States. 

10. Public Opinion Law. In. Illinois it is provided by law that, 
upon petition of ten per cent, of the voters of the State, any ques- 
tion of public policy may be submitted to the voters of the State. 
The vote upon a question thus submitted does not bind the legisla- 
ture, but merely serves as an expression of public opinion; and it is 
an indication of what the people want. What do you think of this 
device? Compare its merits with those of the initiative. 

Topics fob Special Work 

1. Tlie Enforcement of the Law: Reinsch, 26-41. 

2. Relations of Law to Morality: Gettell, 192-194. 

3. The Sources of Law: Beard, 553-557. 



JUSTICE 

In the preceding chapter we learned that one of the constant tasks 
of government is to provide wise and just laws for the people. But 
after laws have been enacted they must be administered in a wise and 
just manner. That is to say, it is the function of government to 
administer the laws in accordance with the principles of justice. 
Let us, then, in this chapter learn of the services rendered by gov- 
ernment when engaged in the administration of justice. 

Administration of Justice the Highest Function of Gov- 
ernment. Of all the services rendered by government, the 
highest and noblest is to maintain justice among men — ^to 
see that every person receives that which is his due. For 
this purpose government is organized, constitutions are 
framed, laws are passed, officers are elected, and armies and 
navies are maintained. To establish justice was one of 
the great objects sought when the Constitution of the 
United States was ordained (1). ''The most sacred of the 
duties of a government/^ said Thomas Jefferson, ''is to do 
equal and exact justice to all its citizens." "Justice," 
said Alexander Hamilton, "is the end of government. It 
is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will 
be pursued until it ba obtained, or until liberty is lost in 
the pursuit." 

Fundamentals of American Justice. In previous chap- 
ters we have learned of the organization of the judicial 
machinery that has been set up for administering justice. 
It is the duty of the judges in the courts to try cases upon 
their merits and to pronounce judgment with the view of 
dispensing even-handed justice to all parties concerned. 
But the judge, in pronouncing judgment, is not free to 

240 



JUSTICE 241 

follow his desires or his whims or his prejudices. For in 
the United States there are standards and principles of 
justice, which bind all courts, whether municipal, State, 
or federal, and no judge in any court can lawfully render 
a decision that fails to measure up to the standards or 
that conflicts with the principles. Moreover, no person, 
whether humble or exalted, can hope to ignore the stand- 
ards without incurring the penalty that goes with the do- 
ing of an injustice. Many of the fundamental rules of 
justice are clearly stated in the Constitution of the United 
States and in the constitutions of the several States. Of 
the principles that have universal application, those that 
relate to life, liberty, property, and equality before the 
law are of supreme importance and must therefore re- 
ceive special attention. 

I. Life. A government that is trying to be just will 
safeguard human life in every possible way. And this is 
what our government does. No person in America can be 
deprived of his life without due process of law (138). 
When the life of a man is at stake, he may demand (1) 
that there be a court of law for the trial of his case; (2) 
that the proceedings of the trial be regular; and (3) that 
the trial be fair. What the regular course of procedure in 
a particular State shall be is a matter for the State itself 
to determine; but, after the State has once decided upon 
the course that justice shall take, after it has once estab- 
lished the processes of law, it can not deprive SlJij person 
of the benefits that arise from the processes. The features 
of justice arising from due process in the federal courts 
may be learned in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth 
amendments to the Constitution. Those that arise from 
due process in the courts of the State may be learned in 
the bill of rights in the State constitution. Study these 
amendments and study the bill of rights, and you will 
learn to appreciate the truth that when the life of an Amer- 
ican citizen is put in jeopardy, government may always be 
relied upon to prevent justice from going awry. 



242 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

II. Liberty. And tlie door of justice is always open 
to the citizen who is threatened with the loss of his free- 
dom. For the American citizen is secure in his personal 
liberty. He may move about freely from place to place; 
he may choose a residence and live in the place of his 
choice for as long a time or as short a time as he desires; 
he may engage in whatever lawful occupation he may see 
fit. This freedom he may enjoy without let or hindrance, 
as long as he remains a law-abiding citizen. If his liberty 
is interfered with, if he is unlawfully imprisoned or put 
into confinement, he may invoke the aid of the writ of 
habeas corpus. Whenever a man is placed in confinement 
against his will, the fact may be made known to a judge 
of a court, and the judge, unless he knows the confinement 
to be legal, is bound upon application, to issue immediately 
a writ of habeas corpus commanding the prisoner to be 
brought before him for examination. The underlying pur- 
pose of the habeas corpus proceeding is to determine 
whether the person in whose behalf the writ is sought is 
detained or held in custody lawfully or unlawfully. If 
it seems to the judge that there is cause for the deten- 
tion of the person, he is sent back to prison to await a full 
trial; if there seems to be no cause, he is promptly set 
free. The privileges of this beneficent writ are granted 
to all persons under the laws of the States, and may not 
be suspended b}^ the federal government unless, as in cases 
of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it 
(64). In no case, however, may the writ be suspended by 
the federal government unless the suspension is authorized 
by Congress. Thus the writ, under the laws of the State 
and of the United States as well, is available as a power- 
ful instrument for securing justice. 

III. Property. The citizen may expect justice in re- 
spect to his property as well as in respect to his life and 
liberty. For in America the machinery of justice lends 
itself full}^ to the protection of property rights. If a man 
owns a thing it can not be taken from him without due 



JUSTICE 243 

process of laAv (138, 152). If any one attempts iiulawfully 
to deprive a man of his property, government will come 
to the aid of the owner. If a mob should wantonly de- 
stroy property and it could be proved that the destruction 
was due to the inefficiency of the police, the local govern- 
ment could in some cases be compelled to make good the 
loss. The government will go to almost any length in its 
efforts to protect property, so sacred it is in the eyes of the 
law. 

There is a limit, however, to the government's respect 
for property rights. If lands or buildings are needed for 
public purposes, the government will take them, even 
though the owner does not wish to part with them. It 
will do this through ■ exercise of the power of eminent do- 
main, a power that resides in the State, and also, hy im- 
plication, in the federal government. But when property 
is taken it must be for public purposes, and the owner 
must be full}' compensated for his loss (138). So, even 
when the power of eminent domain is brought into use, 
there is no confiscation of propert3\ 

IV. Equality Before the Law. In the fourteenth 
amendment to the Constitution it is provided that no State 
shall deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
protection of the laws (152). Here is the guiding star of 
American justice. Government, in its dealings with men 
seeking justice, must treat all persons alike; it must not 
make fish of one and fowl of another. In our courts at 
least, the words of the Declaration of Independence as- 
serting the equality of all men are something more than 
vain and empty words. ''Here," said Senator Charles 
Sumner, speaking of the fourteenth amendment, ''is the 
great charter of every human being drawing vital breath 
upon this soil, whatever may be his condition or whoever 
may be his parents. He may be poor, weak, humble, or 
black; he may be of Caucasian, Jewish, Indian, or Ethio- 
pian race ; he ma}^ be of French, German, English, or Irish 
extraction; but before the Constitution all these distinc- 



244 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

tions disappear. He is not poor, weak, humble, or black; 
nor is he Caucasian, Jew, Indian, or Ethiopian; nor is he 
French, German, English, or Irish. He is Man, the equal 
of all his fellow men. ' ' 

A Needed Reform in the Administration of Justice. 

While our laws and constitutions provide for even-handed 
justice to all men, rich and poor, strong and weak, it is 
nevertheless true that in one respect at least our system 
of justice is not working as well as it ought to work. The 
very poor do not find it as easy to secure justice as we 
would like them to find it. When they wish to go into 
court with their little troubles, they too often find three 
things standing in their way: delay in the trial of their 
cases, court fees, and the expenses of employing a lawyer. 
Let us illustrate their difficulties by a typical case. Here 
is a wage-earner with a claim for ten dollars for which he 
has given honest toil. He knows that the money is due 
him and that he could secure favorable judgment in a 
court. But he finds that if he should bring suit he would 
have to wait months before he would be able to collect the 
money, which he needs at once. So he hesitates to go into 
court with the claim because of the delay. Then, he is 
discouraged by the cost of the suit ; for he finds that he can 
not escape court fees and witness fees amounting to a con- 
siderable portion of his little claim. But worse than the 
delay or the court fees is the expense of emplojang a law- 
yer; for usually, in the trial of a case, a lawyer is almost 
as necessary as a judge. When our claimant reflects that 
the lawyer's fee alone would amount perhaps to as much as 
the claim, he decides not to sue for his money. He either 
compromises with the dishonest man who employed him, 
by accepting a part of what is due him, or he goes unpaid. 
Thus delay and costs and the lawyer 's fee prevent this poor 
man from entering the halls of justice. 

It must not be thought that cases like the above are few 
in number. A recent painstaking investigation presents 



JUSTICE 245 

an array of facts showing that a very large number of 
our citizens fail to receive justice, and that the failure is 
due solely to their poverty.^ Not that there is any discrim- 
ination against the poor in the courts, for there is not. In 
our temples of justice rich and poor are treated alike. The 
whole trouble lies in the fact that the very poor find it dif- 
ficult to get their cases into court. 

This particular defect in the administration of justice is 
so grave that statesmen are demanding a reform. Recently 
ex-President Taft, speaking of reforms in the administration 
of justice, said: ''We must make it so that the poor man 
will have as nearly as possible an equal opportunity in liti- 
gating as the rich man; and under present conditions, as 
ashamed as we may be of it, this is not the fact. ' ' 

In many places the cause of the poor has found cham- 
pions, and reforms have been undertaken. In Kansas, 
some years ago, the attorney-general — so the story runs — 
having learned that a well-to-do man refused to pay a cer- 
tain washerwoman three dollars that he owed her, and that 
she was unable to bring suit because of her poverty, de- 
termined that government in such cases ought to lend a 
helping hand. Accordingly he drew up a bill providing 
for the establishment of small debtors courts, in which 
cases involving sums not exceeding twenty dollars might 
be speedily tried without any costs at all and tvithout the 
services of a lawyer. His bill was passed, and to-day there 
are small claims courts in Topeka, Leavenworth, and 
Kansas City dispensing justice to the poor promptly and 
without expense. Likewise in Cleveland, Chicago, Min- 
neapolis, and Portland (Oregon) there are courts where 
the poor may receive justice at little or no expense. In 
Los Angeles there is a public officer, known as the police 
court defender, who without charge defends persons ac- 
cused of crime, asks mercy when mercy is deserved, and 
assists the judge in a just disposition of criminal cases. 

1 See Justice and the Poor, a bulletin prepared by Reginald Heber Smith 
and published by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. 



246 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Also in Omaha and Columbus provision has been made for 
the office of public defender. Thus the path to this needed 
reform has already been blazed. 

''Fiat Justitia." Public-spirited citizens must join in this 
movement and carry the good work forward with all pos- 
sible speed. For it is just as necessary that everybody 
shall receive justice as it is that everybody shall obey the 
law. Champions of democracy and human rights, there- 
fore, should not cease in their labors until every barrier 
to justice is removed, until it is impossible for any person to 
say with truth that the door of justice is closed against 
him. If they shall persevere in this high endeavor, rich 
indeed will be their reward. ''Whoever labors," says 
Daniel Webster, "on the edifice of justice with usefulness 
and distinction, strengthens its pillars, adorns its entab- 
latures, or contributes to raise its august dome still higher 
to the skies, connects himself in name and fame and charac- 
ter with that which is and must be as durable as the fame 
of human society." 

Questions on the Text 

1. Why is the administration of justice the highest function of 
government ? 

2. What safeguards are thrown aroimd human life in America? 

3. In what way is personal liberty made secure? 

4. To what extent is property sacred in the eyes of the law? ' 

5. What is meant by equality before the law? 

6. Why do the very poor often find it difficult to obtain justice? 
What efforts have been made to assist the poor Avhen seeking justice? 

7. Why should citizens assist in carrying forward reforms of 
this kind? 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

1. What provisions are made in the constitution of the State for 
securing justice? 

2. What provisions are made in the Constitution of the United 
States for securing justice? 

3. Frame a definition of justice. 

4. Have any instances of injustice at the hands of the govern- 



JUSTICE 247 

ment been brought to your attention? If so, was the failure to 
render justice due to the laws or to the officers of the government ? 

5. Of the safeguards of justice mentioned in the text, which is 
the most important? 

6. What did Jefferson mean when he said (in the Declaration of 
Independence) that all men are equal? 

7. Do the poor in this community suffer because they find it hard 
to secure justice? Have any special courts been established in this 
State to make it easier for the poor to secure justice? If so, de- 
scribe the organization and workings of such courts. 

8. Is there need in this State for reform in the administration of 
justice? If so, what reforms would you suggest? 

Topics foe Special Work 

1. Delays in the Enforcement of the Law: Reinsch, 173-180. 

2. Justice and the Poor: Reginald Heber Smith's Bulletin, pub- 

lished by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of 
Teaching. 

3. Justice and Charity: Zueblin, 149-176. 

4. Due Process of Law: Munro, 291-294. 



XXXI 
DEFENSE 

Foremost among the functions of government is that of providing 
a defense against public foes. What is the American system of na- 
tional defense? What is our policy in respect to military matters? 
Upon what does the State rely for protection against attack? 

Defense an Indispensable Function of Government. De- 
fense against public foes is an indispensable function of 
government. Every nation has its enemies, external and 
internal. A foreign power, impelled by avarice or am- 
bition or revenge or envy, may wage war upon us, or a 
lawless element at home may threaten the security of life 
and property. The principle of self-preservation requires 
that a nation be prepared to resist the attacks of both these 
classes of foes, and self-respect demands that resistance 
be actually offered when offense is given. The doctrine 
that we should passively fold, our arms and not resist an 
attack upon our persons or an invasion of our countrj^ is 
contrary to the teachings of experience and to the facts 
of human nature. Hasten the day when war and lawless- 
ness shall cease; but until they shall cease nations must 
be prepared to meet force with force. 

National Defense. The Constitution has made it possible 
for the entire fighting strength of the American nation to 
be hurled against an enemy. For Congress has the power 
of raising and supporting armies and navies (56, 57) and 
of making rules for their control (58)^ and in the exercise 
of this power it is practically unfettered. It may avail 
itself of every dollar of the nation's wealth and of every 
man fit for military service. The power to declare war 

248 



DEFENSE 249 

also rests with Congress (55), althougli the President by 
his acts may bring matters to such a pass that war is 
inevitable. Still, responsibility for the formal declaration 
of war rests with Congress, not with the President. 

The instruments of national defense are the army and the 
navy. 

I. The 'American Army. The first Congress that met 
(in 1789) created a Department of War and the office of 
Secretary of War, and made plans for a national army. 
The regular army established by the new government con- 
sis l:ed of only a few thousand men — a force just sufficient 
to keep the Indians in order. The policy of maintaining 
a small standing army, inaugurated in the beginning of 
our history, has been continued to the present time. In 
time of war we have put into the field more than four 
million men; but in times of peace our army has always 
been small — ridiculously small when compared with the 
standing armies of the great powers of Europe. 

The policy of supporting a regular army no larger than 
is consistent with national safety is undoubtedly sound. 
The army is always under the control of the executive (92), 
and if it were overwhelmingly large it might be used — as 
in the history of nations it often has been used — for bring- 
ing on a war that might have been avoided. Then, a 
stupendous standing army means the reign of militarism 
within the state, and militarism is only another word for 
despotism. Moreover, a large standing army is maintained 
at an enormous cost. For, next to the cost of war itself, 
the costliest thing in the world is armament in times of 
peace. Congress may provide for a large army or a small 
one, as it seems fit; but the provision can not last longer 
than two years (56). In placing this limitation upon Con- 
gress, the Constitution makes it impossible for a large 
standing army to be imposed permanently upon the people 
without their consent. At present the regular army of the 
United States numbers about 280,000 men. 

In ail emergency, when the regular arm}^ is too small 



250 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

for immediate needs, the federal government may call the 
militia to its assistance. The militia consists of practically 
every able-bodied man in the United States between the 
ages of eighteen and forty-five. The full strength of the 
militia is something like 25,000,000 men; bnt this is the 
nnorganized strength. The organized militia, known as 
the National Guard, consists of less than 100,000 men. 

For purposes named in the Constitution (59), the Presi- 
dent calls the militia into service, specifying the number 
of troops each State is to furnish. If a State should fail 
to furnish its quota, the number of men required would 
be enrolled under the authority of the President. While 
in the service of the United States the militia is subject to 
the rules and discipline of the regular army (60), although 
its officers are appointed by State authority. 

Soldiers, both for the regular army and for the National 
Guard, are recruited under the volunteer system. When 
troops additional to the regular army are needed, the Presi- 
dent may call for volunteers, requesting from each State 
a number apportioned to its population. When a sufficient 
number of volunteers can not be obtained, there must be 
a draft. The names of those fit for military service are 
secured, and from these the required number is draivn, 
usually by lot. During the Civil War the draft was brought 
into use and in 1917-18 the names of nearly 24,000,000 
men were registered under the Selective Draft Act, which 
provided for the drafting of soldiers for the army that was 
thrown against Germany. 

The President is officially commander-in-chief of the 
regular army and of the militia when it is in the service 
of the United States (92). A President has never person- 
ally directed the movements of armies in the field. The 
real management of a war falls upon the Secretary of War, 
the head of the War Department. This officer has super- 
vision of the army in times of war as well as in times of 
peace. He acts through the chief of a staff of trained of- 
ficers who have direct control of the troops. A most im- 



DEFENSE 251 

portant duty of the Secretary of War is to care for the 
material welfare of the army. In this he is assisted by the 
quartermaster-general, who attends to the clothing and the 
transportation of troops; by the commissary-general, who 
supplies the food ; by the chief of ordnance, who supplies 
the arms ; by the surgeon-general, who provides medicine 
and assistance for the sick and wounded ; by the adjutant- 
general, who conducts the correspondence of the War De- 
partment. 

It is estimated that ten per cent, of the population and 
wealth of the United States is situated on the sea-coast, 
exposed to destruction by hostile naval forces. The de- 
fense of this life and property is the duty of the War De- 
partment. The great seaports are defended by land bat- 
teries, consisting usually of powerful guns which rise from 
a pit, discharge their shells, and disappear to be reloaded. 
The waters in the neighborhood of a seaport may be sown 
with torpedoes which ma^^ be exploded by an electric spark 
produced by an operator on shore. The difficulty of de- 
fending a seaport is very great, for a modern battle-ship 
can shell a city if it is allowed to approach within ten miles 
of it. Nevertheless, we have along our coast guns that can 
hurl projectiles a distance of twenty miles. 

II. The American Navy. The affairs of the navy were 
managed b}^ the War Department until 1798, when Congress 
established the Department of the Navy, and created the 
office of Secretary of the Navy. The President is com- 
mander-in-chief of the navy, as he is of the army, but he 
delegates his authority to the Secretary of the Navy. Of 
course the actual fighting is done by trained seamen. 

In recent years systematic efforts have been made to 
build up a strong American navy, and in the war with Ger- 
many it was shown that these efforts have not been made 
in vain. We have a navy upon which we may rely. Our 
ships have endurance and speed, and our guns fire quickly 
and surely. In its fighting strength our navy ranks second 
among the navies of the world. 



252 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

State Defense. For the defense of life and property 
within its borders, the State in most cases relies wholly 
upon its citizen soldiers, its militia. The right of a State 
to the services of a well regulated militia is guaranteed by 
the Constitution (134). In times of war, as we have seen, 
the militia is under the control of the President, but in 
times of peace it is subject to the orders of the governor. 
"Wlien the laws of the State are resisted and the local au- 
thorities are unable to suppress the lawlessness, the 
governor sends the militia to the assistance of the local 
forces. If the militia is unable to suppress the law-break- 
ers, the State legislature, or the governor, may make ap- 
plication for aid to the President (121), who, if the case 
seems to warrant it, will send troops of the regular armj^ 
to the scene of disorder. If the lawlessness interferes with 
the operation of the federal government, as with the carry- 
ing of its mails, or if it obstructs interstate commerce, 
the President may send federal troops and suppress the law- 
breakers without waiting for an application from the State 
authorities. 

•In a few States there have been created special central 
agencies of defense in the form of State constabularies. 
Thus in Pennsylvania the State government maintains a 
police force consisting of several hundred trained men. 
The members of this constabulary are empowered to make 
arrests without warrant, in any part of the State, for any 
violations of the law that they may witness. The State 
police force cooperates with the local authorities in pre- 
serving law and order. The chief purpose of such a State 
constabulary is to assist in suppressing mob violence. 

Local Defense. Besides the militia, there are two other 
upholders of law and order within the State. These are 
the sheriff and his posse, and the local police force. The 
posse {posse comitatus, the county force) consists of all 
the able-bodied men in a county (or city). These the 
sheriff may call to his aid at any time to suppress violence. 



DEFENSE 253 

although men who have not been drilled and disciplined 
are not likely to render efficient service. The local police- 
men and constables, of whom there are more than one hun- 
dred thousand in the United States, are the every-day 
guardians of the public peace. They are ''the eyes and 
ears as well as the hands of the body politic ; not only the 
means of governmental apprehension, but of discovery ; the 
agents of prevention as well as of cure." 

Civil Government and Martial Law. It should be noticed 
that in the United States those who wield the sword are 
under the control of civil officers. The general obeys the 
President, the officers of the militia take their orders from 
the governor, the police are controlled by a board of civil- 
ians. This subordination of the military to the civil power 
accords strictly with American notions of government. We 
have no place in our system for martial law — law admin- 
istered by soldiers and at variance with the principles of 
civil liberty. By suspending the writ of habeas corpus, 
citizens may be temporarily deprived of their civil rights 
and placed under martial law; but this can be done only 
in the name of the public safety (64). A State can not 
maintain armed troops in time of peace and thus threaten 
the permanency of civil rights (76). Neither can the 
federal government in time of peace harass the people by 
quartering soldiers in the homes of citizens without their 
consent (135) ; and even in time of war such quartering 
must be done under the authority of civil and not under 
the authority of military law. Thus, while we make ample 
provision for the defense of the nation and the State, 
we take every precaution to prevent the instruments of 
defense themselves from becoming a menace to civil govern- 
ment and to civil liberty. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What causes compel a nation to provide a defense against pos- 
sible foes? 

2. What military powers does the Constitution give to Congress? 



254 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

3. What has been the policy of the United States in reference to 
a standing army? What are the disadvantages of a large standing 
army ? 

4. What does the Constitution provide in reference to the militia? 

5. What are volunteers? What is a draft? 

6. Name the principal officers who conduct a war and state their 
duties. How is the sea-coast defended? 

7. What has been the policy of the United States in reference to 
its navy? 

8. Describe the militia system of a State. 

9. What is a posse comitatusf W^hat are the functions of the 
local police? 

10. Explain how the military is kept subordinate to the civil au- 
thority of the United States. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. What have been the most fruitful causes of w^ar in the past? 

2. In which century in the history of the world have the greatest 
wars occurred? 

3. Name five great military heroes. Should the incomparable 
honor that is accorded to military heroes be set down as one of the 
causes of war? 

4. What does the United States spend each year upon its army 
and navy? What is this State's share of this amount? Compare 
this with the amount spent by the State for its public schools. 

5. Why should Iowa as well as New Jersey contribute to the sup- 
port of the navy? 

6. Name a war that has been a blessing to mankind. Explain. 

7. What is said in the constitution of this State in reference to a 
militia? in reference to the subordination of the military to the civil 
power ? 

8. Of how many men does the entire militia of this State con- 
sist? Of how many does the organized militia consist? 

9. What services has the militia of this State rendered in recent 
years ? 

10. Which could we more safely dispense with, school-houses or 
battle-ships? Could we have one without the other? 

11. Contrast the evils attending war with its beneficent features. 

12. Do you sincerely wish that there will never be another war? 
What things can you, as an individual, do to help the cause of 
peace? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. War Power and Civil Rights: Johnson, 482-490. 

2. Martial Law and the Constitution: Johnson, 491-499. 

3. The Finances of a War: Carver, 514-527. 

4. The Pennsylvania Constabularv : Reinsch, 217-222. 

5. The War Powers: Munro, 265-276. 



XXXII 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

A governmental service of the highest importance is the manage- 
ment of international affairs. In this chapter we shall learn of the 
principles that guide nations in their dealings with each other, and 
of the methods by which diplomatic intercourse between the United 
States and other nations is established and maintained. 

International Affairs Regulated by the Federal Govern- 
ment. The power to direct foreign relations is a sover- 
eign power, which belongs in the United States to the 
federal government. International affairs have never been 
regulated by the State at any stage of our national de- 
velopment. Under the Articles of Confederation, rela- 
tions with foreign countries were conducted by Congress; 
under the Constitution the State is expressly forbidden 
to enter into political relations with foreign countries (72), 
and the management of international affairs is given to 
the President and the Senate. 

International Law. Progressive nations have not isolated 
themselves from other nations. Ancient Egypt refused to 
defile itself by contact with other peoples, and its civiliza- 
tion soon perished. The Greeks and Romans, on the other 
hand, went among strangers, traded with them, learned 
from them, made leagues of friendship with them, and 
thus developed a civilization that became the inheritance 
of all succeeding ages. The states of Europe, which were 
built upon the ruins of the Roman Empire, could not 
live wholly to themselves. In spiritual matters they were 
one. Their universities were places whither all might re- 

255 



256 THE AMEEICAN DEMOCRACY 

pair, and students from England found their way to 
Salerno, and scholars from Italy wandered to Oxford. 
Their commerce caused cities as far apart as Riga and 
London to unite for mutual protection. Above all, their 
incessant wars made a policy of seclusion impossible. 

Out of this intercourse between the countries of Europe 
there gradually came into existence a body of rules which 
states, in their dealings with one another, recognized as 
binding. In modern times these rules have received the 
name of international law. We may, therefore, define in- 
ternational law as that set of rules which, having received 
the acceptance of civilized states, determines the conduct 
of such states in their dealings with one another. A few 
of the most important of these rules are: 

(1) A state must protect the aliens within its borders 
from violence to person and property. 

(2) Ambassadors and ministers are exempt from arrest 
and their persons are sacred. The buildings they occupy 
are extra-territorial. 

(3) The high seas must be regarded as belonging to no 
nation. 

(4) The territory of a maritime state must be regarded 
as including the sea to the distance of three miles along 
the coast. 

(5) A state is sovereign in its own territory and must 
be permitted to manage its internal affairs in its own way. 

(6) A neutral state (one not engaged in war) must pro- 
hiDit belligerent operations within its territory. 

(7) Property taken in warfare belongs to the state, not 
to the individual captor. 

(8) A belligerent may station ships at the ports of an 
enemy and forbid the egress and ingress of neutral vessels. 
'(Blockade.) 

(9) An enemy's goods upon a neutral vessel must be 
spared unless the goods are ''contraband of war." 

(10) If possible, enemies must be taken prisoners rather 
than killed. 



INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 257 

(11) Non-combatants and private property are privil- 
eged. 

(12) Weapons causing needless pain are not to be used. 
The above rules are not positive laws, for they have not 

emanated from a legislative source. They have sprung 
■ from centuries of custom, from numerous agreements be- 
tween nation and nation, and from the moral judgment of 
mankind. A rule of international law does not have the 
sanction of a state behind it, but it has a sanction which is 
very strong: it has the compelling power of the public 
opinion of the world. If a state should refuse to obey one 
of the laws of nations it would have to face the protest and 
indignation of the civilized globe, and if it should be per- 
sistent in its refusal it would be "thrown out of the pale 
of civilized comity, just as you and I would be expelled 
from the social pale if we offended against the unwritten 
law of society." 

Ambassadors and Ministers. The international affairs of 
a state are conducted b}^ its diplomatic representatives, of 
whom the ambassador is the highest in rank. The ambas- 
sador represents the person of the executive of the coun- 
tr}'- from which he comes, and for this reason he receives 
the highest personal respect and consideration. A min- 
ister, who is next to an ambassador in rank, represents 
the government from, which he comes, but not the per- 
sonality of the executive. In foreign courts an ambas- 
sador, being a personal representative of a ruler, is 
admitted to an audience with officials before a minister. 
For a long time a minister was the highest diplomatic 
representative of the United States; but when it was 
found that, under the rules of precedence in favor of am- 
bassadors, a minister of the United States was sometimes 
kept waiting for an official audience while the ambassador 
of some petty kingdom was being received. Congress (in 
1893) created the rank of ambassador. In about fifteen 
of the principal countries of the world the United States 



258 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

is represented by ambassadors. In countries where we are 
not thus represented we have ministers. 

Ambassadors and ministers, their property and their 
households, are exempt from the laws of the country to 
which they are accredited. The residence of a foreign 
minister is, according to international law, a little patch, 
of territory under the dominion of the country that 
the minister represents. If a Chinese minister at "Wash- 
ington should commit a crime, Chinese and not American 
authorities must try the case and administer the punish- 
ment. If a case should arise where a judicial decision 
affecting diplomatic agents is necessary, it must be taken 
directly to the Supreme Court, no matter how trivial it 
might be (110). 

The duties of a diplomatic representative depend upon 
the powers that his government has conferred upon him 
and upon the relations that exist between his govern- 
ment and the one to which he is sent. In general, he rep- 
resents and defends the interests of his country. He keeps 
the home government informed upon topics of public in- 
terest especially upon political topics; but he must not in- 
terfere in any way with the politics of the country in which 
he resides. When a treaty is to be made, the ambassador 
(or minister) usually serves as the channel of negotiation. 
This is true also when there is a diplomatic controversy 
that is the subject of diplomatic adjustment. 

Consuls. In addition to its purely diplomatic representa- 
tives, nearly every nation maintains in foreign countries 
agents known as consuls. A consul is a business agent of 
a government, sent to a seaport or inland city to look after 
the welfare of citizens of his countrj^ He does not rep- 
resent a government, he is not a diplomatic agent, and 
he docs not enjoy the honors and immunities of a minister. 
Sometimes a consul-general is appointed to supervise all 
the consuls in the country to which he is sent. 

The first duty of a consul is to aid his countrymen in 



INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 259 

securing commercial and legal rights. Among his other 
duties are the following: He places the consular seal 
upon official acts of the foreign government. He certifies 
to marriages, births, and deaths among his countrymen in 
his consular district. He certifies invoices. He admin- 
isters on the personal property of deceased persons, when 
there is no representative at hand. He is by treaty fre- 
quently made the legal representative of the non-resident 
heirs of a deceased countryman. A consul receives applica- 
tions for passports, and, when specifically authorized to 
do so, grants them. He also grants passports in the absence 
of the regular diplomatic representatives. 

Still another function of the consul is to aid in the ex- 
tension of our foreign trade. It is his duty to study in a 
special way the industrial conditions existing in his con- 
sular district. He must learn what his district needs in 
the way of materials and manufactured articles, and must 
investigate such subjects as tariffs, commercial transactions, 
navigation, manufacturing industries, and report to the 
government at Washington the result of his investigations. 

The President the Head of Foreign Affairs. In interna- 
tional matters the President has very large powers of con- 
trol. He appoints all ambassadors, ministers, consuls, and 
other representatives and agents accredited to foreign coun- 
tries. Such appointments, however, must be confirmed by 
the Senate (96). Where an international issue is involved, 
the President is the spokesman for the nation. He com- 
monly acts, however, through the Secretary of State, who 
is the titular head of foreign affairs. Through the Secre- 
tary of State, the President receives the ambassadors and 
ministers of other countries upon their arrival in Washing- 
ton (102). In case a foreign diplomatic officer should 
abuse his privilege as such, the President would either 
request his recall or send him out of the country. 

Treaties. When two or more nations are at war and desire 
peace, or if in times of peace their commercial systems or 



260 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

commercial relations require adjustment, or if their bound- 
aries need to be defined, they may accomplish any of 
these objects by entering into a solemn compact, which 
usually takes the form of a treaty. A treaty, when con- 
cluded and ratified by the governments of the signatory 
powers, becomes the law for all the states entering into 
the compact. A treaty concluded by the federal govern- 
ment is the supreme law of the land (126), and any State 
law in conflict with a treaty that is constitutional is null 
and void. Since a treaty is simply a law, Congress may 
repeal a treaty by passing a law contrary to its provisions, 
or an existing law may be repealed by the terms of a 
new treaty. A treaty that is contrary to the Constitution 
is void. 

If a citizen violates a treaty his government will punish 
him as a violator of a law; but suppose the state itself 
should violate one of its treaties, is there a power to punish 
the state? There is no power but the sword of the ag- 
grieved country. The violation of treaty obligations is uni- 
versally regarded as a just cause of war. But suppose a 
powerful state violates a compact that it has made with 
a puny state? In such a case punishment through war is 
out of the question, and the weak state must rely upon 
the natural operation of the law of nations. ^'In the eye 
of international law treaties are made to be kept," and if 
a powerful nation persistently and perversely breaks its 
treaties it will incur the hostility of its neighbors, and 
sooner or later these will combine and force it to abide by 
the rules of international law. 

The President, acting through the Secretary of State and 
diplomatic agents, negotiates treaties with foreign powers. 
After a treaty has been framed, if it meets with the ap- 
proval of the President it is sent to the Senate, where it 
must be ratified hy a tWo-thirds vote (95). If it is success- 
ful in the Senate it is sent to the foreign government for 
ratification. "When it has been ratified by the foreign 




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PORTION OF A TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND UNITED 
STATES SHOWING SEALS AND SIGNATURES 



INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 261 

power the treaty is law for all the states whose governments 
have signed it. 

Suppose the President and the Senate should conclude 
a treaty that required an outlay of money, would their 
action bind the House of Representatives? This question 
arose in 1794, when an appropriation was needed for 
carrying Jay's Treaty into effect. The House voted the 
money, but passed a resolution declaring its right to de- 
liberate upon any regulation of a treaty that was placed 
by the Constitution under its control. Treaties requir- 
ing money for their execution have been concluded again 
and again, and the House has always made the necessary 
appropriation. It has never, however, acknowledged its 
obligation to do so. 

Arbitration. A treaty provides for the peaceful inter- 
course of two or more nations in the future. How shall 
questions and disputes arising out of past transactions be 
settled? One nation has wounded the pride of another, 
or has trespassed upon its boundaries, or damaged its com- 
merce, or maltreated its citizens: how shall the injured 
nations find redress without declaring war? Nations that 
are capable of a humane and enlightened policy may find 
a peaceful exit from the most exasperating situations: they 
ma^^ submit their differences to a court of arhitratiofi, just 
as private citizens often submit their differences to arbi- 
tration in order to avoid a battle in the courts of law. 

Nations wishing to settle a dispute by arbitration enter 
into a preliminary treaty. They agree upon a method of 
selecting the members of the arbitration board, appoint 
a time and place for the meeting of the board, and define 
precisely the question to be settled. The arbitrators, like 
impartial judges, listen to the claims of the several states, 
investigate and weigh the facts pertaining to the case, 
and render a decision in accordance with the facts and the 
principles of justice. When the decision of a board of ar- 



262 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

bitration has been fairly obtained, all tlie nations affected 
by it are under the most solemn obligations to acquiesce 
in it. 

The Peace Treaties. In recent years many international 
disputes have been settled by arbitration and in submitting 
such disputes to boards of arbitration the United States 
has set a good example to other nations. In 1914 the fed- 
eral government entered upon a policy of averting war by 
negotiating with nations treaties designed to assure a period 
of investigation and inquiry into the nature of disputes be- 
fore the outbreak of hostilities. In these treaties the high 
contracting parties agree that all disputes between them 
of every nature whatsoever which diplomacy shall fail to 
adjust shall be submitted for investigation and report to 
an international commission and they agree not to declare 
war or begin hostilities during such investigation and re- 
port. Each of the two countries names one member from 
among its own citizens and one from an outside country. 
A fifth member is chosen by the two governments by com- 
mon agreement. An investigation by the commission may 
occupy an entire year, but no longer time, unless the two 
governments agree to extend the period. The two govern- 
ments may deal as they choose with the report of the com- 
mission, neither government being bound in any way. 

The League of Nations. In 1919 several of the belligerent 
states that had been engaged in the war against the Central 
Powers, together with some of the neutral nations, entered 
into a covenant forming a League of Nations ^ to be recog- 
nized as a central body interested in coordinating and as- 
sisting international activities generally. The League acts 
through an assembly comprising not more than three rep- 
resentatives of each of the member states, and a council 
comprising one representative of each of the great powers 
having membership in the League. In the assembly, and 
also in the council, each state has only one vote. Either 



INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 263 

the coancil or the assembly can deal with any matter that 
is of international interest or that threatens the peace of 
the world. Except in certain specified cases, the decision 
of both bodies must be unanimous. 

The member states of the League agree: {a) to reduce 
their armaments, plans for the reduction being suggested by 
the council, but only adopted with the consent of the states 
themselves ; ( & ) to exchange full information of their exist- 
ing armies and their naval and military programs; (c) to 
respect each others' territory and personal independence and 
guarantee them against foreign aggression; {d) to submit 
all internationl disputes either to arbitration or to inquiry 
by the council, refraining from going to war till three 
months after an award of the court of arbitration or a 
unanimous recommendation of the council has been made, 
and even then not to go to war with a state that accepts the 
award or the recommendation; (e) to regard a state that 
has broken the covenant as having committed an act of war 
against the League, and to break off all economic and other 
relations with it ; and if force is to be applied, the council 
recommends what amount shall be supplied by the several 
governments concerned; (/) not to consider any treaty 
binding till it has been communicated to the League; to 
admit the right of the assembly to advise the reconsider- 
ation of treaties ; and to be bound by no obligations incon- 
sistent with the covenants. The covenant does not affect the 
validity of regional understandings like the Monroe Doc- 
trine. A state that breaks its agreements may be expelled 
from the League by the council. 

The League accepts certain responsibilities with regard to 
labor conditions; enunciates the doctrine that human labor 
is something more than a mere commodity or article of com- 
merce ; declares that an eight-hour day should be the stand- 
ard aimed at; and subscribes to the principle that men 
and women should receive the same pay for the same 
service. 

The permanent meeting-place of the League is at Geneva, 



264 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

where there is established a permanent secretariat under 
a secretary-general. 

The League of Nations was founded in order to promote 
international cooperation and to secure peace. It pro- 
poses to organize the nations of the world for peace, and 
to make a war of conquest impossible by uniting all nations 
against the offender., It establishes machinery for settling 
disputes by arbitration, and provides for friendly methods 
of adjusting disputes when arbitration is not agreed to. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Where is power in respect to foreign affairs lodged? Define 
international law. State some of the most important of the laws 
of nations. How are the laws of nations enforced? 

2. What is the difference between an ambassador and a minister? 
What is the legal position of an ambassador resident in a foreign 
country ? 

3. What are the duties of an ambassador or minister? 

4. What is a consul? a consul-general? What are the duties of a 
consul ? 

5. How do the diplomatic representatives of the United States 
receive their positions? 

6. What is a treaty? How are treaties made? How are they 
enforced ? 

7. What is the attitude of Congress respecting treaties that call 
for the outlay of money? 

8. What are the duties of a court of arbitration? 

9. Explain the Peace Treaties. 

10. Give an account of the organization and provisions of the 
League of Nations. 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

1. What is a charge d'affaires? an envoy extraordinary? 

2. Of the international rules mentioned in the text, state one (if 
there is such a one) that is contrary to justice; one that is con- 
trary to the interests of mankind; one that is contrary to natural 
law. 

3. Upon what occasion and for what causes have ministers of 
foreign countries been requested to leave the United States? 

4. Could the decisions of the League of Nations be enforced if all 
the nations s'lould disarm? 

5. What influences are now at work tending to bring about uni- 
versal peace? What influences are at work tending to destroy 
peace ? 

6. Give an account of the Monroe Doctrine. 



INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 265 

7. A secretary of the British ambassador was arrested, brought 
before the judge of a town court, and fined for running an auto- 
mobile too fast: did the judge have the right to impose the fine? 

8. What is the difference between arbitration and mediation, as 
these terms are used in the settlement of international disputes? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Part of the House in Treaty Making: Johnson, 197-205. 

2. The President's Initiative in Determining Foreign Policy: 

Johnson, 303-404. 

3. The President and the Treaty-Making Power: Munro, 111-112. 

4. Treaties and International Law: Gettell, 528. 

5. Diplomacy: Gettell, 229-234. 



XXXIII 
TAXATION 

We come now to the function of taxation, or the orderly collection 
of revenue for the support of government. An adequate study of 
the taxing function requires a consideration of the following topics: 
. ( 1 ) taxation in its general aspects ; ( 2 ) national taxation ; ( 3 ) 
State and local taxation; and (4) public debt. In this chapter we 
shall dispose of the first of these topics. 

Cost of Government. The importance of the subject of 
taxation becomes apparent when we regard the cost of 
government in the United States. This cost is necessarily 
very heavy, for there are three highly organized govern- 
ments to be supported : the federal government with its 
army and navy and courts of law and high officials and 
hundreds of thousands of employees : the State governments 
with their numerous departments ; the local governments 
with their school systems, charitable institutions, highway 
improvements, and police and sanitary services. The total 
annual expenditures of all these governments, federal, 
State, and local, amount to more than $6,000,000,000. 
This tremendous sum is nearly one tenth of the combined 
annual earnings of every man, woman, and child in the 
United States. The people, therefore, contribute to gov- 
ernment in a year considerably more than they earn in a 
month. 

Taxation Defined. We have already learned that in 

America it is a cardinal principle that government must 

receive its revenue through the consent of the legislature 

(p. 26). When the legislature makes a general call upon 

the citizens for contributions for the support of govern- 

266 



TAXATION 267 

ment, it is said to tax them. When the levy or call is 
properly made, the contribution is compulsory and can not 
be escaped. A tax, therefore, may be defined as an en- 
forced contribution of money levied b}^ a legislative body 
on persons, property, or income, for the support of govern- 
ment. 

Principles upon Whicli Taxes Are Levied. Four rules, 
or maxims, have been laid down for the guidance of the 
lawmaker in matters of taxation. They are as follows: 

I. Equality. Citizens should contribute toward the sup- 
port of government as nearly as possible in proportion to 
their respective abilities. 

II. Certainty. The tax that each individual is bound 
to pay ought to be certain and not arbitrary. The time 
of payment, the manner of payment, the quantity to be 
paid, ought all to be clear and plain to the contributor and 
to every other person. 

III. Convenience. Every tax ought to be levied at the 
time or in the manner in which it is most likely to be con- 
venient to the contributor to pay it. 

IV. Economy. Every tax ought to be so contrived as 
both to take out and keep out of the pockets of the people as 
little as possible over and above what it brings into the 
public treasury. 

The above maxims were stated by Adam Smith (1776), 
and they have acquired almost universal authority. Legis- 
lators always keep them in mind, and follow them with 
more or less fidelity. Sometimes, however, in order to avoid 
the resentment or opposition of the people, they ignore 
the maxims and follow the rule of expediency. In accord- 
ance with the policy of a celebrated Frenchman (Colbert), 
they so pluck the goose (the people) as to produce the larg- 
est amount of feathers with the least possible amount of 
squawking. 

Different Kinds of Taxes. For the sake of system, legis- 
lators divide property and other subjects of taxation into 



268 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

classes, and name the tax according to the class upon which 
it is levied. The kinds of taxes that are usually collected 
are the following: 

I. Property Tax. Property is the thing universally 
taxed. If any property escapes taxation, it is not, as a 
rule, the fault of the law, for the law-makers attempt to 
tax almost everything upon which a levy can possibly be 
made. A general property tax is levied {a) on real prop- 
erty, which includes lands or buildings and other things 
erected upon land; and (5) on personal property, which 
includes such things as household furniture, money, goods, 
bonds, notes of promise, stocks, mortgages, jewelry, horses, 
carriages, automobiles, and farming implements. 

II. Income Tax; Inheritance Tax. The income tax is 
levied upon income from wages or salary, or from profits 
derived from one's business or profession, or from interest 
on stocks and bonds. In a few States an inheritance tax is 
levied on property acquired by inheritance or will. Some- 
times this tax is regarded as an income tax, the inheritance 
or legacy being considered as nothing more than a part of 
the income secured during the year. 

III. Corporation Tax; Franchise Tax. The corporation 
tax is levied upon private corporations. It sometimes takes 
the form of an income tax levied upon the corporation re- 
garded as a person; sometimes it is levied upon the bonds 
and stocks of the corporation. In a few States it is levied 
upon the earnings of the corporation. 

The franchise tax is levied upon a privilege granted by 
government. When a city council confers upon a corpora- 
tion the right to operate a trolley line upon a certain 
street, the right conferred is a franchise, and upon the value 
of this right the franchise tax is laid. Though franchises 
are not material, visible property, they have nevertheless 
been declared by the Supreme Court of the United States 
to be property. Sometimes franchises have an enormous 
value. For example, while the tangible property — the 
rolling stock, rails, wires, and power-houses — of a trolley 



TAXATION 269 

company miglit be worth only a million dollars, the right 
to use the street (the franchise) would not be sold, perhaps, 
for a sum several times as great. Sometimes a corporation 
is compelled to -pay a franchise tax, and in addition a prop- 
erty tax on its material possessions. 

IV. Customs Duties; Excises. A customs duty, or 
tariff, is a tax levied upon an article imported from a 
foreign country. In some countries duties are levied upon 
imported articles. Excises, or internal revenue taxes, are 
levied upon goods manufactured within the country. 
Among the articles that are usually subjected to the excise 
tax are tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, oleomargarin, and play- 
ing cards. Taxes on theater tickets, moving-picture tickets, 
and railway tickets are also regarded as excises. 

V. Miscellaneous Taxes. In addition to the taxes thus 
far described, there are several others, which may be 
grouped as miscellaneous. Among the miscellaneous taxes 
are thF following : (1) The poll or capitation tax, which 
consists of a small sum of money levied as a personal 
tax; that is, the tax is imposed on the person as a person, 
not as a possessor of property. (2) License taxes, which 
are collected from merchants, peddlers, hack-drivers, show- 
men, and others for the privilege of transacting business. 
The license tax resembles the franchise tax. (3) Fees and 
special assessments. These are sums collected by public 
authority as a partial payment for services rendered by 
the government. The charge for issuing a marriage certif- 
icate is an example of a fee, while a cliarge made for con- 
necting a private drain with a public sewer is an example 
of a special assessment. Fees and special assessments are 
not always taxes, properly so called. 

Reforms in Taxation. It is sometimes contended that 
one's duty in respect to the payment of taxes should be 
measured, not by ability, but by sacrifice. According to 
this view, a tax is burdensome, not in proportion to what 
is paid, but to what is left. To equalize the sacrifice of 



270 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

taxpayers, a graduated or progressive tax has been pro-* 
posed. Under tlie workings of tins tax the rate increases 
with the amount of property. For example, if A, B, C, and 
D are worth respectively $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 and 
$40,000, a scheme of progressive taxation might impose 
upon A a rate of one per cent., upon B a rate of two per 
cent., upon C a rate of three per cent., and upon D a rate 
of four per cent. D 's property is only four times as great 
as A's, yet it pays sixteen times as much in taxes. 

In eighteen States the constitutions provide that taxation 
shall be in exact proportion to the value of the property 
taxed. In these States progressive taxation would doubt- 
less be adjudged unconstitutional. The other States are 
permitted to apply the progressive principle, and many of 
them do apply it. Congress has levied a progressive in- 
heritance tax and a progressive income tax, and the validity 
of the progressive principle has been sustained by the Su- 
preme Court of the United States. 

Another proposed reform in taxation is the single tax. 
This is a plan for raising all revenues — federal. State, and 
local — from a single tax imposed on land. According to 
this plan, men should contribute to the support of govern- 
ment, not in proportion to what they produce or accumu- 
late, but in proportion to the value of the natural oppor- 
tunities they hold ; and it is contended that the land-holder 
is the great monopolist of natural opportunities. The 
single tax would be laid upon land as such, and not upon 
the improvements upon land. The tax upon a vacant lot, 
provided it were as favorably located, would be as heavy 
as the tax upon a lot improved by a magnificent struc- 
ture. The fundamental principle of the single tax is this: 
The individual should get the advantage of all improve- 
ments upon land, while the government (society) should 
get the advantage of favorable location, and of the in- 
creased values that accrue to land in a commimity that 
is progressive and that is increasing in population. 



TAXATION 271 

Questions on the Text 

1. What can you say of the cost of government in the United 
States ? 

2. What is a tax? 

3. State Adam Smith's four maxims of taxation. What was 
Colbert's maxim of taxation? 

4. Name and describe each of the several classes of taxes. 

•^ 5. Explain the operation of a progressive or graduated tax. 
What is the single tax plan? What is the fundamental principle of 
this plan? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Show that taxation played an important part in each of the 
following events: {a) Wat Tyler's Rebellion; (6) the American 
Eevohition; (c) the French Revolution. 

2. Look about you and see what government does for the people; 
itemize these services and decide whether they are worth the labor 
of all the people for five weeks in the year. 

3. Is it just that all citizens should pay taxes? Do all citizens 
have to pay taxes? (Do not be too sure of your answer to this 
question. ) 

4. For what do people pay taxes most cheerfully? 

5. Of the several kinds of taxes mentioned in the text name the 
one that is easiest to collect; name the one that is easiest to be paid; 
name the one that is most objectionable. 

6. If government imposes an income tax, is it right that incomes 
below a certain amount should escape the tax? If you think a, cer- 
tain amount should escape taxation, what amount would you sug- 
gest? 

7. Should the expenses of a Fourth of July celebration be paid 
out of the public funds? 

8. Suppose you own a farm worth $5,000 and there is a mortgage 
on it of $4,000: how much are you worth? On how much should 
you pay taxes — $1,000, $5,000, or $9,000? If mortgages were taxed 
— as they frequently are — and the holder of the mortgage on your 
farm should shift the mortgage tax to you in the form of a higher 
rate of interest, on how much would you pay taxes? 

9. State the evils of parsimony in public expenditures; the evils 
of extravagance. Which are the more dangerous ? Read Prov. xi, 24. 

10. Does the constitution of this State declare any general princi- 
ple in reference to taxation? 

11. Is there an income tax in this State? If so, explain its nature 
and workings. 

12. Is it just that a man who owns a little property should be 
taxed, while the man who receives a large salary and who ow^ns no 
property should escape taxation? 

13. Are there any progressive taxes in this State? If so, give an 
account of them. 



272 THE AMEEICAN DEMOCRACY 

14. Discuss progressive taxation in reference (a) to its justice, 
(&) to its expediency", (c) to its effect upon fortune-building. 

15. What reforms in taxation are needed in this State? 

Topics for Special Wobk 

1. Taxation: Carver, 503-513; Thompson, 397-407. 

2. Popular Taxation: Dole, 293-318. 

3. Municipal Franchises: Kaye, 456-463. 

4. The Income Tax: Bullock, 577-582; Munro, 225-226. 

5. Direct Taxation; Munro, 224-225. 



XXXIV 
NATIONAL FINANCE 

Having considered tlie subject of taxation in its general aspects, 
we pass to the subject of public finance, the science that treats of 
public expenditures and of the means of securing money to meet 
them. Since, under our dual system, taxation is a concurrent func- 
tion (p. 48), exercised with sovereign power by the State as well 
aa by the federal government, and since each government determines 
its mvn expenditures, public finance in the United States is resolved 
into two clearly defined systems — national finance and State finance. 
In this chapter the subject will be national finance. 

Extent of the Federal Taxing Power. Recognizing that 
revenue is the life-blood of government, the framers of 
the Constitution gave to Congress an almost unlimited 
power to tax (M), and at the same time reserved to the 
States the power of raising their own revenues in their own 
way in such amounts and for such purposes as they might 
deem wise and proper. They restricted the taxing power 
of Congress in only three particulars: they provided (1) 
that duties and excises must be uniform throughout the 
United States (45) ; (2) that direct and capitation taxes 
must be apportioned among the States according to popu- 
lation {QQ) ; and (3) that duties can not be laid on articles 
exported from any State (67). Excepting only as it is 
limited by these three provisions, Congress is f^ee to levy 
any kind of tax it may see fit for any amount it may desire, 
except that it may not tax the property of a State or the 
salaries of State officers. Since the adoption of the six- 
teenth amendment, even the restriction in respect to direct 
taxes has been partially removed; for under the power 
given by that amendment Congress may levy an income 
tax — a direct tax — without apportionment among the 

273 



274 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

several States and without regard to any census or enumera- 
tion (160). 

Preparing the National Tax Bill. The Constitution pro- 
vides that bills for raising national revenue shall orginate 
in the House of Representatives (36). It was the expecta- 
tion of the framers that this provision would give the House 
complete control over national revenues and expenditures. 
''The House of Representatives/' said James Madison in 
the Federalist, "can not only refuse, but they alone can 
propose, the supplies requisite for the support of govern- 
ment. They, in a word, hold the purse. . . . This power 
over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most com- 
plete and effectual weapon with which any constitution 
can arm the immediate representatives of the people for 
obtaining a redress of any grievance and for carrying into 
effect every just and salutary measure." But the ex- 
pectation of the framers was not to be realized: the House 
has not maintained a mastery over the national finances. 
For the Constitution provides that in the case of revenue 
bills, as in other bills, the Senate may propose or concur 
in amendments (36). By using the power of amendment 
freely the Senate has come to have great influence in the 
shaping of the revenue laws. It takes the tax bill that is 
sent to it from the House, and modifies the measure in 
whatever way it may desire ; and if the two branches come 
into conflict over the matter the Senate usually wins. 

The actual work of preparing the national tax bill is 
performed by the House committee on ways and means. 
The task of this committee is stupendous. It must hold 
sessions for the hearing of the interests that will be affected 
by proposed schemes of taxation; it must inform itself as 
to the wishes of the people at large in respect to the kind 
of taxes that should be levied ; it must make estimates of the 
amount of revenue that may reasonably be expected to 
accrue from each of the several kinds of taxes that are 
to be imposed; it must so fix the rates that the largest 



NATIONAL FINANCE 275 

amount of revenue may be procured with the least opposi- 
tion on the part of the people; it must prepare a bill call- 
ing for an enormous sum of money. 

Sources of the National Ee venue. When raising the 
federal revenue Congress avails itself of the resources of 
the richest nation in the world, and it is permitted to im- 
pose almost every kind of tax. The principal taxes col- 
lected by the federal government are the income and 
excise taxes, customs duties, and the inheritance or estate 
tax. 

I. Federal Income Tax. Every citizen of the United 
States, whether residing at home or abroad, is subject to a 
personal income tax; and every person residing in the 
United States, though not a citizen thereof, is subject to 
such a tax. The federal income tax law provides for a 
normal tax and a surtax. The normal tax is a certain per 
cent, levied on the whole income in excess of a certain 
exemption which is allowed. This exemption (1920) is 
$2,000 in the case of persons living in the marriage rela- 
tion, and $1,000 in the case of unmarried persons. The 
normal rate is 4 per cent, on the first $4,000 of net income 
above the exemption, and 8 per cent, on the remaining net 
income. The surtax is an additional tax, levied upon 
increments of income above a certain amount. The rate 
of the surtax is graduated (p. 270), increasing as the income 
increases. In the case of some of the very largest incomes 
the rate of the surtax is so high that it takes more than 
half of the income. 

II. Excise Taxes. A very considerable portion of the 
national revenue is derived from excises (p. 269). Among 
the articles subject to the excise tax are tobacco, manufac- 
tures, automobiles, motorcycles, admission tickets to places 
of amusement, oleomargarin, and playing cards. 

III. The Tariff. Another important source of the 
federal revenue is the tariff. The first Congress estab- 
lished (in 1789) a tariff (p. 269), and all succeeding Con- 



276 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

gresses have followed its ex:ample. Tariff or customs duties 
are collected by government officials, at ports of entry, 
from the importers of foreign goods. The duties are ad 
valorem when they are levied at a certain rate per cent, 
on the money value of the goods at the original place of 
shipment. They are specific when levied on articles ac- 
cording to quantity or number. For example, if the duty 
on gloves is 40 per cent, ad valorem, a box containing six 
dozen pairs of gloves worth fifteen dollars a dozen pro- 
duces a tax of thirty-six dollars. If the duty on gloves 
is specific, at eight dollars a dozen, the box of gloves in 
question produces a tax of forty-eight dollars. 

The customs tax is levied upon several hundred articles; 
but the greater part of the tariff revenues is raised from 
the manufactures of wool, cotton, silk, iron, copper, and 
tea, and from sugar, fruit, cigars, drugs, dyes, and chemi- 
cals. Many imported articles are admitted free of duty. 
Among the items on the free list are coffee, tea, books more 
than twenty years old, raw wool, agricultural implements, 
sewing-machines, lard, milk, potatoes, and salt. 

TV. Inheritance or Excise Tax. Still another federal 
tax is one levied upon inheritances. This tax, known as the 
estate tax, is levied upon the estates of all decedents leaving 
property of the value of $50,000 or more. Like the system 
on incomes, the estate tax is graduated. 

Collection of the National Eevenues. The internal 
revenue — that is, the revenue derived from the income tax, 
the excises, and the estate tax — is collected under the 
direction of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, one of the 
bureaus in the Department of the Treasury. For the pur- 
pose of collecting the internal revenue, the country is 
divided into about sixty-four internal revenue districts, in 
each of which there is a federal collector of internal 
revenue, assisted by a corps of deputies. As a iTile, the 
boundaries of the collection districts follow State lines. 



NATIONAL FINANCE 277 

In the more populous States there are two or more col- 
lection districts. 

Customs duties are collected at various ports of entry by 
United States treasury officials known as collectors of cus- 
toms. In normal times more than half of all customs duties 
are collected at the port of New York City. Other ports 
where the customs collections are considerable in amount 
are Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Savannah, 
Boston, and Baltimore. 

The federal government collects its revenue in an 
economical manner. The cost of collecting the customs is 
about 5 per cent, of the amount collected; while the in- 
ternal revenues are collected at a cost that is only a little 
more than one half of one per cent, of the amount col- 
lected. In the fiscal year ending July, 1919, the internal 
revenue receipts were close to $4,000,000,000, while the cost 
of collecting this vast sum was only about $20,000,000. 

National Expenditures. The laws providing for federal 
expenditures are usually passed before the matter of 
revenue is attended to. Private individuals ordinarily esti- 
mate their income first and then decide upon expenditures ; 
but governments are accustomed to estimate their ex- 
penditures and attend to the matter of income afterward. 
The preparation of appropriation bills is a task that 
absorbs a large part of the energy of Congress. At the 
opening of every regular session. Congress receives a report 
from the Secretary of the Treasury containing detailed esti- 
mates of the sums necessary for the support of the national 
government. These estimates are prepared by the heads 
of the several departments, each stating the amount of 
money he thinks his department will need in the next fiscal 
year.^ These estimates are gathered into a bulky volume, 
known as the Boolz of Estimates, and are submitted to Con- 
gress by the Secretary of the Treasury. But the figures 

1 For the federal government the fiscal or financial year begins on July 1, 
and extends to July 1 of the following year. 



278 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

in the Booh of Estimates are recommendations and noth- 
ing more. Not a dollar of the estimates can be raised con- 
stitutionally without the consent of Congress (69). 

The consideration of the estimated expenditures begins 
in the House of Representatives, although there is no con- 
stitutional reason why such consideration should not be- 
gin in the Senate. The recommendations found in the 
Book of Estimates are referred by the Speaker to the 
proper committees. The preparation of appropriation 
bills is not concentrated in the hands of any single com- 
mittee, as is the preparation of revenue bills, but is 
intrusted to a number of committees. For example, ap- 
propriations for the support of the army are prepared by 
the committee on military affairs ; those for the support of 
the navy, by the committee on naval affairs; those for the 
support of the post-office, by the committee on post-offices 
and post roads. In all, about fourteen different appropria- 
tion bills are prepared by nine different committees. 

The committees virtually control federal expenditures. 
There is ho limitation upon their power of appropriation, 
except that any appropriation for the support of the army 
shall not be made for more than two years (56) . They take 
the estimates submitted by the Secretary of the Treasury 
and do with them as they please. Sometimes they accept 
them, sometimes they modify them, but often they ignore 
them altogether. It is their function to prepare bills pro- 
viding for the expenses of the government; and in the 
exercise of their duty they are entirely independent of 
executive authority. Quite often they invite executive of- 
ficials to assist them and advise them, but they are under 
no constitutional obligation to do so. Appropriation bills, 
like all other bills, must run the gauntlet of legislation. 
They must pass both Houses and receive the signature of 
the President. 

Shall We Have a National Budget? The system of having 
the estimates made by so many departments and the ap- 



NATIONAL FINANCE 279 

propriations made by so many committees has resulted in 
a financial procedure that is '4iapliazard, uncertain, un- 
businesslike, and indefensibly wasteful." Then, too, the 
present system does not provide for the proper adjustment 
of expenditures and revenue. The departments, bureaus, 
and boards bombard the committees of Congress for ap- 
propriations, in sublime indifference to the fact that they 
may be asking the taxpayer to assume a burden heavier than 
he ought to be called upon to bear. ''The government of 
the United States," said the Secretary of the Treasury re- 
cently, ''is like a private family in which the wife, having 
charge of the spending part of the family's business, were 
given carte hlanche to buy houses, yachts, automobiles, 
clothing, and food, and to employ servants, as she might 
find wise; and the husband's sole business were to see that 
there was money in the bank to meet her checks as they were 
presented. ' ' 

To bring order into our national finances and effect 
economies in expenditures of money, the budget system has 
been proposed. Under the budget plan there would be a 
full and clear statement of expenditures and revenues; 
there would be an estimate of the government's needs and 
also of its financial resources; and there would be an op- 
portunity to fix responsibility both in the matter of making 
the estimates and in the matter of making the appropria- 
tions. "There should be," said President Wilson, urging 
the adoption of the budget system, "one single authority 
responsible for the making of all appropriations, and ap- 
propriations should be made, not independently of each 
other, but with reference to one single comprehensive plan 
of expenditure properly related to the nation's income." 
The burden of preparing the budget would rest upon some 
agency of the executive department, and when prepared 
it would be submitted to a single committee of each branch 
of Congress. The proposed budget would be approved or 
amended by the committee, but no new item of appropria- 
tion could find its way into the budget, and no existing 



280 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

item could be increased, except by a two-thirds vote of the 
committee. 

In 1920 a bill providing for a national budget was passed 
by Congress but was vetoed by the President on the ground 
that certain provisions of the measure encroached upon 
the power of the Executive. Notwithstanding this setback, 
the outlook for a budgetary system continued to be bright. 

Questions on the Text 

N^ 1. What are the powers of the federal government and what are 
tJfe powers of the State in reference to taxation ? What three re- 
strictions does the legislature place upon the taxing power of Con- 
gress ? 

2. Give an account of the preparation of the national tax bills. 
Describe the task of the committee on ways and means. 

3. Name the several sources of the national revenue, and give an 
account of each of the leading federal taxes. 

4. Describe the methods of collecting the federal taxes. 

5. Give an account of the preparation of bills for national ex- 
penditures. 

6. Why is it desirable that we should have a national budget? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Estimate how much this State contributes to the support of 
the federal government, assuming that it contributes according to its 
population. Is this sum greater or less than the amount raised for 
the purposes of the State government? 

2. Do the people w^ho live at a port of entry pay all the taxes 
that are collected at the custom-house? 

3. An orator wishing to illustrate the generosity and patriotism 
of his people pointed out the fact that three times as much of the 
internal revenue tax was paid in his State as in any other State. 
Point out the fallacy of the illustration. 

4. Collect all the provisions of the Constitution that bear on the 
subject of taxation. Compare the Constitution with the Articles of 
Confederation in respect to taxation. 

5. Which would you prefer to paj^, direct or indirect taxes? 

6. What is meant by smuggling? What articles are easily smug- 
gled? Should taxes on these articles be light or heavy? 

7. Name the principal ports of entry in the United States. What 
is done with the money that is collected at these ports? 

8. How much per voter does it cost to support the national gov- 
ernment ? 

9. Is the money you pay for a postage-stamp a tax? 

10. Of the articles mentioned in the text as being taxed, are there 
any that should go on the free list? 



NATIONAL FINANCE 281 

11. Under the Constitution can the Senate originate a bill to re- 
vise the tariff? 

12. What is the difference between an appropriation bill and a 
revenue bill? 

13. Receipts and Expenditures of the National Government. In 
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1918, the receipts and expenditures 
of the National Government were as follows: 

RECEIPTS 

Customs $ 183,428,624 

Income and excess-profits taxes .... 2,600,7(52 734 

Miscellaneous taxes 1,239,468^260 

Sales of public lands 1,404,705 

Miscellaneous receipts 622,539,527 

Public Debt Receipts 29,075,976,515 

Postal Revenue Receipts 364,847,120 

Total Receipts $34,088,427,491 

EXPENDITURES 

Legislative $ 17,090,106 

Executive proper 17,467,352 

State Department 20,766,400 

Treasury Department 227,277,657 

War Department 8,995,880,266 

Postal Service 362,504,274 

Navy Department 2,002,310,785 

Interior Department 288,285,627 

Department of Justice 15,717,022 

Department of Agriculture 39,246,454 

Department of Commerce 15,589,514 

Department of Labor 12,942,558 

U. S. Shipping Board 1,820,606,870 

Federal control of transportation . . 358,795,274 

War finance cooperation 302,621,846 

Food and Fuel Administrations .... 87,338,207 

Independent office and Commissions 75,375,809 

District of Columbia 16,014,105 

Interest on Public Debt 619,215,569 

Public Debt expenditures 16,326,506,560 

Purchase of obligations of foreign 

governments 3,479,255,265 

Total Expenditures $34,100,807,520 

Topics for Special Work 

1. Congress and the Treasury Department: Johnson, 178-187. 

2. Limitations of the Power of Congress to Tax: Munro, 221-227. 

3. Revenue Bills: Beard, 361-365. 

4. Budget System: Munro, 309-310. 



XXXV 
STATE FINANCE 

From the subject of national finance we pass to a consideration of 
State and local finance. How does the State raise money for the 
support of the State government? How are the expenditures of the 
State determined? In what way are the expenses of the local gov- 
ernments determined, and how are they met? 

Taxing Power of the State. Since one of the chief ob- 
jects of the Constitution was to secure easy trade relations 
between the States, taxation on exports and imports was 
prohibited to the States and placed under the control of 
Congress (74). With the view of further protecting the 
freedom of commerce, the Constitution forbids any State 
to levy without the consent of Congress any tonnage duty, 
that is, any tax on the carrying capacity of a vessel (76) — 
a prohibition that applies to all instruments of commerce. 
A State can not impose a tax on ' ' tonnage passing through, 
from, or to a State or foreign country, be it on railwa}?-, 
canal, river, or otherwise." Moreover, since ''the power 
to tax is the power to destroy," a State can not tax the 
agencies by means of which the federal government is en- 
abled to exercise its functions : it can not tax the bonds of 
the federal government, or its property, such as its light- 
houses and post-office buildings, or the salaries of its offi- 
cers, or the public money in its treasuries, or the metals 
in its mints. Aside from these restrictions, the State is 
free to tax all taxable objects within its borders. 

Authority for State and Local Expenditures. Although 
they may differ somewhat in detail, the financial systems 
of the States are quite uniform in their workings. Au- 

282 



STATE FINANCE 283 

tliority for all public expenditures within each State flows, 
directly or indirectly, from its constitution and its legisla- 
ture. Expenses of the State government are estimated 
amd levied directly by the legislature, and are usually com- 
paratively light. In some States the constitution limits the 
amount that can be levied in one year. 

But it is not the State government that calls for the ex- 
penditure of the largest sums. Most of the actual func- 
tions of government that lie within the scope of State au- 
thority are performed by the localities — by cities, counties, 
villages, townships. The expenses of the local governments, 
therefore, are much heavier than those of the State. The 
local governments spend about five times as much as is 
spent by the State. New York City alone spends annually 
a sum almost equal to three fourths of the combined ex- 
penses of all the State governments. 

In matters of taxation, cities and counties and other 
minor civil divisions are strictly under the control of the 
State government, and the limits of their power to tax are 
usually defined by the higher authority. In some States 
the limitations are fixed by the legislature, in others by 
the constitution. In about one third of the States coun- 
ties are not allowed to tax beyond a certain per cent, of 
the assessed valuation of property. Municipalities, in the 
matter of taxation, are often restricted by the terms of their 
charters. Taking the country over, however, the localities 
are quite free to tax themselves as they see fit. The most 
that the legislature or the constitution undertakes to do is 
to throw around the local taxing power such safeguards as 
will prevent bankruptcy. 

The expenses of local government are met by taxation 
imposed by the minor legislative bodies, by the municipal 
council (or commission) or the board of county commission- 
ers — a legislative body as far as taxation is concerned — or 
the town-meeting, or the township supervisors or trustees. 
Since the greater part of the sum paid for taxes is levied 
by local authority with the almost direct sanction of the 



284 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

voters themselves, it can almost be said that the people are 
not taxed — for they really tax themselves. 

Taxation in the State. It has been seen that federal taxa- 
tion is a very simple matter. Congress determines the 
tariff and excise rates and the rates of the income tax, 
and the Treasury Department places its collectors of cus- 
toms at the various seaports to collect the duties on for- 
eign goods as they come into the harbors, and sends its 
collectors of internal revenue to individuals and to cor- 
porations to collect the income tax and into the tobacco 
establishments to collect the excises on tobacco as it is manu- 
factured — and that is substantially the story of federal tax- 
ation. The account of State taxation must be somewhat 
more complex, for it involves the consideration of more 
processes and more governmental machinery. 

I. The General Property Tax. In the State the gen- 
eral property tax is the great source of revenue. This 
tax reaches all property, real and personal, located within 
the boundaries of the State. When the owner of property 
resides outside the State, he does not for that reason escape 
taxation. 

In the payment of the general property tax the tax- 
payer should bear a burden proportioned to his wealth ; all 
the property of every person should contribute according 
to its true value. This, as has been seen, is a fundamental 
principle of taxation. In order to realize this principle 
of equality and justice when levying the general property 
tax, the government must set in motion an elaborate taxing 
machinery, and must carefully control all the processes of 
taxation. Its officers must discover all the property of 
every person, and must place thereon a fair valuation; it 
must provide agencies for correcting unjust and unfair 
valuations; it must have officers for collecting the taxes 
and means of enforcing payment; finally, it must, in the 
name of public policy, exempt certain classes of property 
from the payment of taxes. 



STATE FINANCE 285 

An account of tlie operation of the general property tax 
includes the consideration of the following topics: (1) As- 
sessment; (2) Equalization; (3) Collection; (4) Delin- 
quency; (5) Exemption. 

(1) Assessment. The administration of the general 
property tax begins with the placing of a valuation upon 
all property, real and personal. This official valuation is 
called an assessment. The officers of assessment, known as 
assessors, in some States are elected by the people; in other 
States they receive their office by appointment. 

The assessors of a local division — of a city, or town, or 
township ^ — after personally inspecting the property of 
the taxpayer and making a series of inquiries in reference 
to it, place a value upon it. This is done in respect to 
the property of every taxpayer. The sum of all the valua- 
tions of property thus made is the assessment of the local 
division. The tax rate of the local division is found by 
dividing the expenditures determined upon by the assess- 
ment. If the assessment is $50,000,000, and the expenses 
of the local government are $500,000, dollars, the tax rate 
is one hundredth or one per cent. Every tax-payer, there- 
fore, must pay local taxes amounting to one per cent, of 
the assessed valuation of his property. 

But this local division, even if it be a large city, is 
probably located in a county in which there are additional 
expenses of county government. The local division must 
bear its share of these expenses, and this will increase the 
rate of the taxpayer. The county rate is found by divid- 
ing the county expenditures by the county assessment, 
which is the sum of the assessments of all the local divisions 
of the county.- Again, the county as a part of the State 
must contribute its share to the support of the general 
State government. The State rate ^ is found by dividing 

1 In some States the county is the smallest local division for purposes of 
assessment. 

2 The valuation put upon property in the local assessment is usually re- 
garded as its proper valuation for purposes of county and State taxation. 

3 In several States there is no general property tax for State purposes, the 
revenue for the general State government being obtained chiefly from corpora- 
tion taxes and from licenses. 



286 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the State expenditures by the State assessment (the sum 
of the county essessments). This rate, added to the local 
and county rates, gives the tax rate of the local taxpayer. 

(2) Equalization. In levying the general property tax 
the individual assessments must be just. If A's house is 
assessed at one thousand dollars when it is worth two thou- 
sand dollars, and B's house is assessed at three thousand 
dollars when it is worth two thousand dollars, B will pay 
three times as much in taxes as A, whereas in justice he 
ought to pay only as much as A. In most of the States 
means are provided for correcting unfair assessments. 
Very often there is a local board of equalization to which 
taxpayers may appeal when they think they have not been 
treated fairly at the hands of the assessors. Sometimes 
such complaints are taken to an appeal tax court, or to the 
board of county commissioners. When the board of equali- 
zation or other body to which appeal is made finds that 
there has been an unjust assessment, it orders a new one 
made. 

Frequently evils arise from uneven assessments among 
localities. For example, in one county the assessors may 
place the valuation of all property too low, while in another 
county the property may be assessed at its true value. As 
far as the county tax is concerned, undervaluation, if uni- 
form as among the individuals of the county, works no 
harm ; but it works harm in connection with the State tax, 
for the taxpayers of a county in which there is under-as- 
sessment contribute less than their just share to the State 
expenses. State boards of equalization have been estab- 
lished in many States to correct evils growing out of un- 
even assessments among localities. These State boards, 
however, have not in all cases been able to apply a remedy 
for wrongs occasioned by improper local assessments. 

Where all the local divisions in a State assess property 
according to the same principle, and assess it honestly, 
there is no trouble; but where original local assessments 
are made in a haphazard manner, or with a view to escap- 



STATE FINANCE 287 

ing just burdens, the whole taxing sj^stem of the State is 
vitiated, and a remedy is almost impossible. The goodness 
or badness of the administration of the general property 
tax, therefore, depends upon the work of the local assessors. 

(3) Collection. The general property tax is gathered by 
,local officers. Usually tax-collectors are elected or ap- 
pointed for the sole purpose of collecting taxes; but in 
some States the collection is made by a constable or select- 
man, township supervisor, or other local officer. In the 
performance of his duties the collector is guided solely by 
the tax list prepared by the assessors. The same collector 
usually collects State, county, and local taxes. "When this 
is the case a distribution is made, the local division, the 
county, and the State each receiving its proper share. 

(4) Delinquency. Wlien the taxpayer fails to pay his 
tax bill promptly, the property upon which the tax is 
levied is said to be delinquent, and is liable to be sold to 
satisfy the claim. If the property sold for taxes should 
bring more than the amount of the tax, the excess is given 
to the owner. Moreover, the owner usually has the right to 
buy back his property at the price for which it is sold. 
This right of redemption, however, continues for only a 
limited period, usuall}^ two years. 

(5) Exemption. State constitutions almost always 
specify the kinds of property that may be exempt from 
taxation, and the legislature is usually forbidden to exempt 
any other kind. A clause from the constitution of Min- 

l- nesota will illustrate the practice in reference to exemp- 
tion: "Public burying grounds, public school-houses, pub- 
lic hospitals, academies, colleges, universities, and all 
seminaries of learning, all churches, church property used 
for religious purposes, and houses of worship, institutions 
of purely public^ charity, public property used for public 
purposes, and personal property to an amount not exceeding 
in value two hundred dollars for each individual, shall by 
general laws be exempt from taxation." Many States are 
careful to exempt household furniture to a certain value. 



288 THE AMEEICAN DEMOCKACY 

II. Miscellaneous Taxes. In the raising of revenues the 
State and the local governments are by no means confined 
to the general property tax. Large sums are realized from 
fees, licenses, and franchises. The opportunity for revenue 
in the way of licenses is seen in the following clause of 
one of the State constitutions : ' ' The legislature shall have 
power to tax peddlers, auctioneers, brokers, bankers, com- 
mission merchants, showmen, jugglers, innkeepers, . . . 
venders of patents, in such manner as it shall direct by 
general law, uniform as to the class upon which it Operates. ' ' 
The franchise tax levied upon the franchises (p. 268) of 
railroads and other corporations is also proving to be a 
source of much revenue in some States. 

Incomes are taxed in a few States ; inheritances in many. 
Poll or capitation taxes are very common, and in some 
States yield considerable revenue. In cities large sums are 
collected as water rents and special assessments for the 
payment (in whole or in part) for street improvements to 
abutting property. Water rents and special assessments, 
however, are not in the strict sense taxes; they are rather 
payments for social services which the government has 
chosen to perform. Fines also add materially to the public 
funds, but they can in no sense be regarded as taxes. 

State and City Budgets. In most of the States appropria- 
tions for the support of the State government are under 
the exclusive control of the legislature. Where this is 
true the legislative leaders are the undisputed masters of 
State finance. In about half the States, however, in order 
to remedy the evils of indiscriminate and unsystematic ac- 
tion by the legislature, the budget system has been intro- 
duced; that is, the governor, or some administrative board, 
submits to the legislature an itemized statement of the 
financial needs of all the State departments. This state- 
ment is used as a basis for legislative action when appro- 
priations are being made. In a few States an item of the 
budget may be stricken out or decreased by the legislature, 



STATE FINANCE 289 

but may not be increased by that body. Of course, the 
power of the legislature could not be restricted in this 
manner unless with its own consent or under the author- 
ity of the State constitution. In Maryland the constitution 
expressly restricts the legislature in respect to its power 
when dealing with the items of the budget. 

In cities the tendency toward budgetary procedure is 
also strong. Under many municipal charters financial 
management has virtually passed from the council to a 
board of estimates, of which the mayor is a member and 
over which he may exert a controlling influence if he 
chooses to do so, for he usually appoints a majority of the 
members. This board of estimates prepares the city budget 
and submits it to the city council or commission. The 
council may lower the estimates, but it can not exceed them. 
In New York City the budget is made by a board composed 
of the mayor, the city comptroller, the president of the 
board of aldermen, and the presidents of the five boroughs. 
In some of the cities of Ohio the mayor makes up the 
budget from estimates prepared by the several municipal 
departments. The council may strike out a particular 
item of the budget or decrease an item, but it can not 
increase the total of the budget. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What restrictions are placed upon the power of the State to 
tax? 

2. By what authority are taxes levied for the support of the 
State government? Compare the expenditures of the State govern- 
ment with the expenditures of the local governments. By what au- 
thority are taxes levied for the support of local government? 

3. Explain the work of assessors. What is the assessment? 
How is the local tax rate determined? the county rate? the State 
rate ? 

4. What is the duty of the board of equalization? What evil 
arises from uneven assessments? 

5. What is done with delinquent property? 

6. What kinds of property are exempt from taxation? 

7. Name several kinds of taxes besides the general property tax 
that are accustomed to be levied in the State. 

8. Give an accoimt of State budgets; of city budgets. 



290 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

1. "Tlie power to tax is the power to destroy." Why would it not 
be wise for the federal government to have the power to tax the 
property of the State and the salaries of its officers? 

2. What are the general provisions of the constitution of this 
State in reference to taxation? What restrictions are placed upon 
the taxing power of counties? of townships? of cities? 

3. Does the right to vote in this State depend in any way upon 
the payment of any kind of taxes? Ought it so to depend? Do all 
who pay taxes in this State have a right to vote? 

4. Of the several kinds of taxes mentioned in the text, which are 
levied in this State? 

5. Are mortgages taxed in this State? If so, who pays this tax? 
Are incomes taxed in this State? If so, who pays this tax? 

6. What are the several kinds of property exempt from taxation 
in this State? (See the constitution.) 

7. If you owed a man a just debt and saw an opportunity of 
escaping payment, would you avail yourself of the opportunitj^ ? If 
you owned property that should pay taxes and saw an opportunity 
to hide the property from the assessors and thus escape the payment 
of the tax, would you avail yourself of the opportunity? 

8. If a man should send you a bill for three dolars when you 
knew you owed him five dollars, would you call his attention to the 
mistake? If the assessor should assess your house at $5,000 when it 
is worth $3,000, what would you do? If he should assess it at $3,000 
when it is worth $5,000, what would you do? Do you believe men 
are disposed to deal as honestly with the government as they are 
with their neighbors? 

9. What is the tax rate of this municipality? of this county? of 
this State? 

10. Under what circumstances would there be no grumbling about 
taxes ? 

11. Is there a State tax commission in this State? If so, give an 
account of its organization and its powers. 

12. W^hat penalty is imposed in this State in case of delinquent 
taxes ? 

13. What is the assessed valuation of the property of this city? 
What is the rate of taxation? 

14. Is any graduated or progressive tax in operation in this 
State? 

15. Secure a copy of your State budget and prepare a statement 
similar to the one found on page 282, showing what proportion of 
the State funds are spent for education, for highway's, for charitable 
institutions, etc. 

Topics fob Special Wokk 

1. Budget Making: Bruere, 175-201. 

2. State Taxation: Reinsch, 293-325. 

3. Taxation in the States: Bullock, 559-587. 

4. State Budget System: Munro, 466-469. 



^ i^^n 







XXXVI 



PUBLIC DEBT 



The subject of public finance, as we have learned (p. 266), in- 
cludes the subject of public debt. How does the government borrow 
money? To what extent have our several governments contracted 
debts? What provisions are made for paying the public debt? 

Public Debt a Necessity. A most important topic of public 
finance is piihlic debt. The necessity of incurring debt 
in the conduct of public affairs is perhaps stronger than 
it is in the management of private business. Governments 
can not accumulate money; they must confine taxation to 
such amounts as are necessary to meet expenses for the 
current year. At the end of the fiscal year the treasury 
is supposed to be virtually empty. This is unquestionably 
the correct policy. A government is sorely tempted to 
be extravagant when it has more money on hand than it 
needs. It has been said with some truth that the way 
to keep governments pure is to keep them poor. 

Since it can not save for a rainy day, when the rainy 
day comes and large sums of money must be had at once, 
government must borrow. Increased taxation can not be 
relied upon to supply the necessary revenue. In 1863 the 
federal government used its taxing power to the utmost 
to raise the money for the support of its war operations, yet 
it could not collect by taxation one sixth of what it spent 
during the year. More than five sixths of its expenses had 
to be met by borrowing. Also, in the war with Germany, 
the sums that we borrowed vastly exceeded those raised by 
taxation. 

How a Government Borrows Money. When a govern- 
ment wishes to raise money by borrowing, it usually sells 
its 'bonds to voluntary buyers. A government bond resem- 

291 



292 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

bles a promissory note given b}^ an individual who borrows 
money. In the bond are stated the amount owed by tbe 
government, the date of payment, and the rate of interest. 
A bond may be for a small sum or for many thousands of 
dollars. The amount received by a government for a bond 
depends upon (1) the confidence that lenders have in the 
government's ability to redeem the bond, that is, to pay 
the debt; (2) the rate of interest offered; and (3) the 
length of time the debt is to run. Sometimes the conditions 
of borrowing are so favorable that a government receives 
for a bond a sum considerably greater than the face value 
of the debt. 

Besides raising money by issuing bonds, the national gov- 
ernment issued (in 1862-63) paper money, declaring this 
to be ^'lawful money and a legal tender in payment of all 
debts, public and private, except duties on imports and 
interest on bonds and notes of the United States." This 
money was printed by the government and paid out to its 
creditors. Those who received it could compel others to 
take it in payment of debts. Money secured in this way 
may be regarded as a forced loan. 

National Debt. The Constitution gives to Congress un- 
limited power to borrow money (46) ; it imposes no re- 
striction as to time, or amount, or security, or interest. 
Congress may not, however, pay any debt incurred in aid 
of rebellion against the United States (157). The debts 
contracted by the United States under the confederation 
were made valid as against the new government (125). 
Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, 
and perhaps the greatest financier in our history, wished 
to make the credit of the national government so good 
that no one would ever hesitate to lend it money. He urged 
Congress to pay not only the regularly contracted debt of 
the confederation (foreign $12,000,000; domestic, $42,000,- 
000), but also to assume the war debt ($21,000,000) in- 
curred by the States during the War of the Revolution. 



PUBLIC DEBT 293 

After a long debate the policy of assumption was adopted, 
and the new government began its career with a debt of 
about $75,000,000. 

Hamilton was inclined to regard a public debt as a source 
of strength to a government. By scattering the govern- 
ment's bonds among the people, he contended, you create an 
interest in its stability. Men will always rally to the sup- 
port of a government which owes them money. Hamilton's 
financiering, therefore, did not tend to pay off the national 
debt as rapidly as possible. When his political rival, Jeffer- 
son, who was not deeply concerned about the strength of the 
central government, came into power, a policy of paying off 
the debt as fast as possible was pursued, and its amount 
steadily fell until the "War of 1812, when it rose to nearly 
$125,000,000. After the War of 1812 the policy of reducing 
the debt continued, and by 1836 the national debt was prac- 
tically extinguished, and the treasury had on hand about 
$40,000,000 for which it had no use. The greater part of 
this surplus was actually distributed among the States ac- 
cording to population. 

After 1836 the government began to incur small debts, 
and during the Mexican War it borrowed considerable sums. 
At no time, however, did it become very large until the out- 
break of the Civil War, when it jumped from less than 
$65,000,000 in 1860 to more than $500,000,000 in 1862. 
After 1862 the debt steadily mounted until 1866, when it 
approached $3,000,000,000. It then steadily declined until 
1916, when the interest-bearing debt was only about $1,000,- 
000,000. 

Upon our entrance into the Great War in 1917, the na- 
tional debt began to rise and soon reached a figure of 
startling magnitude. In 1920 the total interest-bearing 
debt of the United States was in the neighborhood of 
$25,000,000,000. 

State Debt. A State must not assume a debt incurred in 
aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States 



294 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

(158). This is the only restriction imposed by the Con- 
stitution upon the State as to its debts. The constitutions 
of most States, however, forbid the unlimited borrowing 
of money, although the restrictions do not extend to bor- 
rowing for purposes of public defense. To defend itself 
against invasion, or to suppress insurrections, the State 
may borrow to an unlimited extent, upon the principle 
that the public safety is above every other consideration. 
In most of the States a deficit can be met by borrowing, 
but the constitutions usually specify how large a deficit 
may be met in this way. In some of the States the amount 
that may be borrowed to cover a deficit must not exceed 
$50,000; in others it may be as large as $1,000,000. In 
the constitutions of a number of the States it is provided 
that money can not be borrowed unless the law authorizing 
the loan is first submitted to the people and their assent 
to it secured. 

The finances of the State governments, broadly speaking, 
are in a healthy condition. Only in a few States is the 
State debt considerable, while in many cases it is so small 
as to be inappreciable. This praiseworthy condition of 
aifairs is due in part to constitutional provisions, in part 
to the great resources of the State governments, in part to 
the wisdom and self-restraint of the State legislatures. 

Debts of Local Governments. Restrictions upon local 
governments in reference to borrowing are found in al- 
most every State. If the restrictions do not appear in the 
constitution, they appear in the laws of the legislature 
or in the municipal charters. Most of the State constitu- 
tions fix the rate of indebtedness that the local govern- 
ment may incur. Frequently this rate is 5 per cent, of the 
total valuation of the property within the civil division 
that borrows the money. In nearly all cases, before 
money can be borrowed by a local government the ques- 
tion must be referred to the people. 

Notwithstanding the restrictions placed upon the bor- 



PUBLIC DEBT 295 

rowing power of local governments, they are everywhere 
throughout the United States heavily in debt. Especially 
is this true of municipalities. The combined municipal 
debt is many times larger than the combined debt or all 
the States. The debt of New York City alone is much 
larger than the total debt of the forty-eight States, and the 
debts of many other cities are proportionally as large as 
that of the metropolis. 

The debts of cities have been incurred for the building 
of water-works, city halls, school-houses, and for the pav- 
ing of streets and the construction of sewers. These im- 
provements have necessitated the outlay of large sums in 
a short period of time, and it has not been possible to col- 
lect sufficient money by taxation to pay for them as they 
have been made. The rapid growth of American cities has 
sometimes caused the expenditures to increase at an alarm- 
ing rate. In some instances sewers and water-works have 
been constructed on a scale suitable for a city of a hundred 
thousand people, and, behold, the population has increased 
to four times that number! This increase has rendered 
the old improvements worthless and made necessary the 
construction of new ones at an enormous expense. Besides, 
it is generally confessed that the management of the finan- 
ces of cities has been bad the country over. In the award- 
ing of contracts for public works larger sums of money 
have been paid to contractors than the work has been worth. 
Franchises have been granted to corporations for a song, 
when they ought to have realized large sums. Temporary 
or floating debts caused by deficits have not been paid 
promptly by means of taxation, but have been added to 
the bonded debt. 

The management of the finances of cities has called forth 
various schemes of reform. One of these is the plan of 
taking away from the city council some of its financial 
powers and lodging them with the board of estimates 
(p. 290) . Another remedy proposed is to prescribe a prop- 
erty qualification for voters, when financial questions are 



296 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

involved. This plan is botli impracticable and unwise: 
impracticable, because voters will not consent to it; un- 
wise, because it would be an unnecessary assault upon the 
principle of democracy. The corrupt bargains that are 
made in the management of the finances of a city are made 
by those who possess property, not by those who have no 
property. A property qualification would not exclude the 
corruptionists from taking a part in city affairs, but it 
would exclude many honest men from taking part; and 
it is to honest men, after all, that we must look for genuine 
reform. The possession or non-possession of property has 
really very little to do with the matter. Good municipal 
government, let it be said again, is purely and simply a 
question of honesty upon the part of officials and vigilance 
upon the part of citizens. 

How Public Debts are Paid. Public debts, of course, must 
be paid by taxation. Indeed, they are often called anti- 
cipatory taxes, from the fact that government, in borrow- 
ing a sum of money, anticipates a certain revenue that 
it expects to receive by taxation. A State can not be com- 
pelled by federal authority to pay a debt to a citizen, for, 
without the consent of the State, a citizen can not bring his 
suit into a federal court (145) and establish his claim. 
The United States can not be compelled to pay a debt, for 
you can not compel a sovereign power to do anything 
against its will. 

It is customary in the United States for a government, 
national. State, and local, to prepare for the paj^-ment of a 
debt at the time it is incurred, according to the doctrine 
of Hamilton, who held that the ''creation of a debt ought 
to be accompanied with means of its extinguishment. ' ' This 
preparation usually consists in the creation of a sinking 
fund. Under the sinking fund plan the law that pro- 
vides for the borrowing of money also provides for the rais- 
ing by taxation of a certain sum annually, which shall be 
set aside for the "sinking" or the pajdng of the bonds 



PUBLIC DEBT 297 

when they shall become due. The sum raised for the sink- 
ing fund is inviolate and can be used for no other purpose, 
unless for public defense. 

The United States may borrow money without creating 
at the same time a sinking fund for its payment; but the 
constitutions of many States provide that all debts, whether 
State or municipal, shall be accompanied by means of ex- 
tinguishment, and the means adopted is usually the sinking 
fund arrangement. 

Questions on the Text 

1. How does the necessity of public debt originate? 
- 2. Under what circumstances is the government justified in bor- 
rowing ? 

3. Describe a government bond. Upon what does the value of a 
government bond depend? 

4. In what way may governments sometimes make a forced loan? 

5. What are the provisions of the Constitution in respect to bor- 
rowing? What was Hamilton's doctrine concerning a public debt? 
What was Jefferson's policy in respect to the public debt? 

6. Sketch the history of the debt of the United States. 

7. What restriction upon the borrowing power of a State is in 
the federal Constitution? What restriction upon borrowing is 
usually found in a State constitution? 

8. What can be said of the condition of the finances of State 
governments ? 

9. What restrictions are placed upon the borrowing power of mu- \ 
nicipalities? For what purposes have the debts of municipalities 
been incurred? Why have these debts become so large? 

10. What remedies have been proposed for 'the betterment of city 
government ? 

11. Why can not the United States be compelled to pay its debt? 
Why can not a State be compelled to pay its debt? 

12. Explain the sinking fund arrangement. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Compare graphically the per capita debt of the United States 
with that of «ach of the following countries: England, Germany, 
France, Italy, Eussia, Austria. 

2. If the term for which a bond is issued is long, how will that 
fact affect the price paid for it? 

3. Is it right for this generation to contract public debts that 
must be paid by the next generation? Give reasons for your answer. 

4. "Public debt is a public blessing." "Public debt is a public 
curse." Point out the truth and falsity contained in both of the 
preceding statements. 

i 



298 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

5. How much per voter does the United States government owe? 

6. What sum does this State owe? this county? this municipality? 
State the purposes for which these debts were contracted. 

7. What provisions does the constitution of this State make in 
reference to the debt of the State? to the debt of counties? to the 
debt of cities? What are the advantages and disadvantages of these 
provisions ? 

8. Bring a government bond to the class to be examined a.nd 
studied. 

9. Do rents in cities rise and fall with the tax rate? Ask a 
dealer in real estate about thjg._^ 

10. Show how the tax rate may'be kept low for a while by borrow- 
ing. What is the final result of such a system of financiering? 

11. Is a large public debt necessary to make a government strong 
in the hour of its need? Answer this from our own history. 

Topics foe Special Work 

1. Financial Administration of Cities: Goodnow and Bates, 397- 

426. 

2. Municipal Finance: Kaye, 452-456. 

3. The City Budget: Howe, 322-344. 

4. The National Debt: Munro, 233-245. 



XXXVII 

MONEY 

•■ «§»• — ■» ■» 

Closely related to the financial function of government is the 
function of regulating the monetary system. In order to under- 
stand our monetary system we must learn the leading facts about 
money considered simply as a medium of exchange. In this chapter, 
therefore, we shall inquire into the nature and characteristics of 
monej^, and learn of its use as an agency for the transaction of 
business. 

Money a Commodity. The early colonists brought with 
them but little money, and they were therefore placed in 
conditions similar to those that existed in the earliest 
times, when there was no money and when exchange of 
goods had to be affected by barter; that is to say, when 
one commodity had to be exchanged for another directly — 
corn for fish, a horse for a cow. Exchange by pure barter, 
however, is too clumsy to be practised long. An intelligent 
people will always find some commodity that will pass 
from man to man as money and thus make exchange easy. 

The colonists in Virginia chose tohacco as a substitute 
for the silver and gold coins they lacked. Tobacco was 
in universal demand. The Indians prized it highly, the 
colonists themselves used it freely, and merchants were 
always ready to purchase it when it was brought down 
to the ships that traded with the New World. Men, there- 
fore, would accept tobacco in exchange for a commodity, 
not because they themselves wanted tobacco, but because 
they knew that that commodity was so generally desirable 
that they would have no trouble in exchanging it for any 
other commodity they might wish. 

There were other reasons why tobacco could be ex- 

299 



300 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

changed for any other kind of goods. A small bulk of it 
contained a great deal of value, a pound, in the early days 
of the colony, being worth three shillings in England. 
Again, tobacco could be easily divided and subdivided, and 
articles of small value as well as of great could be ex- 
changed for it. One pound of tobacco usually represented 
about the same value as another. These characteristics of 
tobacco, joined with the universal demand for it, led to 
its use as money. 

In New England, in the early days when coin was scarce, 
corn was used as a substitute for money, although it proved 
to be a poor substitute. In New York, Indian wampum or 
polished clam-shells passed as money among the settlers. 
Each colony adopted as money the commodity that would 
circulate most readily. 

The Precious Metals. As industries in the colonies mul- 
tiplied and trade and wealth increased, gold and silver 
became more abundant, and the use of the cruder kinds of 
money was abandoned. This was to be expected. No other 
commodity performs the functions of money so well as 
these metals. The reason why the precious metals — as 
silver and gold are called — ^are everywhere used to the ex- 
clusion of other metals may be summed up as follows : 

(1) The3^ possess much value in little weight and bulk, 
and can therefore be carried easily from place to place, 
and can easily be concealed and guarded. 

(2) They can be easily divided and manufactured into 
small pieces as well as into large ones, and can thus be 
made suitable for the payment of sums varying in amount. 

(3) Time does not destroy their value, and the wear and 
tear of handling is very small. 

(4) They do not vary in quality. ''There is no such 
thing as inferior gold or inferior silver. ' ' 

(5) They have a value of their own apart from their 
usefulness as monej^ for they are used in the manufacture 
of many expensive articles of commerce. 



MONEY 301 

Coinage of Money. When a farmer takes eggs to a store 
and exchanges them for sugar, a certain quantity of sugar 
is weighed in scales. If metallic money is desired in ex- 
change for the eggs, if the farmer wishes to buy money 
with his eggs, a certain weight of gold or silver is given 
to him', but the scales are not brought into the transaction. 
The pieces of money have been weighed in the government's 
mint, and the farmer is satisfied as to their weight and 
fineness. 

In ancient times scales were employed in transactions 
like the above. Gold and silver, like sugar, were weighed 
when they passed from man to man as money. Since ac- 
curate weighing and testing were difficult processes, it be- 
came the custom to stamp upon a bar or ring of the pre- 
cious metal its weight and fineness. The bar or ring thus 
stamped became a coin and did not need further weigh- 
ing. The processes of coining were originally conducted 
by private individuals, usually by goldsmiths; but experi- 
ence showed that private coinage led to fraud, and govern- 
ments were compelled to take the matter into their own 
hands. Coinage is now everywhere recognized as a proper 
function of government. 

Under the Articles of Confederation Congress had the 
power to coin money, but it had not the bullion (uncoined 
gold and silver) to coin. The little money that was coined 
during the period of the Confederation was struck off by 
private individuals under the authority of the various 
States. The framers of the Constitution took the right of 
coinage away from the State (72) and lodged the power 
entirely with the federal government (49). 

Paper Money. Every one of the kinds of money thus far 
mentioned has an intrinsic value, an inherent, essential 
value arising out of its usefulness as a commodity and 
separate from its character as money. Tobacco is desirable 
as a means of gratifying a certain appetite, and when it 
ceased to be used as money it was still valuable; silver 



302 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

and gold are highly prized as articles of commerce, and 
coins made of these metals are valuable even after they 
have been melted and have lost their form as money. 

There is another kind of money that has played an im- 
portant part in the history of the American people. This 
is paper money, which may be defined as money that 
neither possesses nor represents intrinsic value. Paper 
money may be printed and issued by a government with 
the promise that it will be redeemed for intrinsic monej^, 
or it may be issued by a bank as a promissory note payable 
in intrinsic money, but it is never intrinsic money itself. 
Paper money is usually made a legal tender; that is, the 
holder of it may tender, or offer, it in payment of a debt, 
and the creditor must receive it as lawful money. Paper 
money is sometimes called fiat money, because government 
makes or attempts to make it worth so much. 

The Continental Congress of 1775 issued $2,000,000 in 
bills of credit based upon the credit of the States. As the 
war progressed, issues became larger and more frequent, 
and by 1779 more than $200,000,000 of the paper money 
was in circulation. In addition to this sum, the individual 
States issued about $200,000,000 in paper money. During 
the first part of the war the notes were accepted willingly 
and circulated freely at their face value; but in 1777 they 
began to decline in value, and in January, 1779, eight 
dollars of the paper money were worth only one dollar in 
silver. Congress did not formally make the Continental 
.paper a legal tender, but it enacted that the man who 
refused to take it was an enemy of his country. People, 
however, could not be compelled to receive it. It depre- 
ciated until it took one thousand dollars of the paper money 
to purchase as much as could be purchased with one dollar 
of silver. Finally the Continental money became abso- 
lutely worthless — "not worth a continental." Barber 
shops were papered in jest with the bills ; sailors, on return- 
ing from their cruises, being paid off in bundles of worth- 
less money, had suits of clothes made of it. 



MONEY 303 

In 1785 and 1786 there were extensive issues of paper 
money by the individual States. These proved to be the 
cause of much confusion and injustice, and when the 
framers of the Constitution came to the subject of paper 
money they took from the States altogether the right of 
issuing bills of credit, and of making anything but gold 
and silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts (73). 

Representative Money. Paper money must not be con- 
fused with m>oney paper or representative money. "When 
tobacco was used as money in the colonies, it was customary 
to store large quantities of the weed in warehouses and . 
give the depositor a receipt for the amount deposited. 
This warehouse receipt passed from hand to hand as money. 
It was not paper money, for it could be redeemed for in- 
trinsic money — tobacco. A very large part of the money 
now in circulation among us resembles those tobacco re- 
ceipts, and consists of printed certificates stating that there 
has been deposited in the treasury of the United States a 
certain quantity of gold or silver which the holder of the 
certificate may obtain by presenting the certifiicate at the 
treasury for redemption. Representative money has been 
invented to save the trouble of carrying and handling 
the real money. 

Rivalry of Gold and Silver; Gresham's Law. Experi- 
ments with paper money before the adoption of the Con- 
stitution were so unsatisfactory that the new government 
decided to create a currency that should have a metallic 
basis. Accordingly, it established a mint, and enacted a 
coinage law which provided for the free coinage of gold 
and silver. ''It shall be lawful," said the statute, "for 
any person or persons to bring to the said mint gold or 
silver bullion in order to their being coined, . . . free of 
expense to the person or persons by whom the same shall 
have been brought. And as soon as the said bullion shall 
have been coined the person or persons by whom the same 
shall have been delivered, shall upon demand receive in 



304 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

lieu thereof coins of the same species of bullion which shall 
have been so delivered, weight for weight, of pure gold or 
silver therein contained. That all gold and silver coins 
which shall have been struck (stamped) and issued from 
said mint shall be a lawful tender in all payments what- 
soever. ' ' 

The relation that was to exist between the value of 
gold and that of silver was stated in these words : ' ' Every 
fifteen pounds weight of pure silver shall be equal value 
in all paj^ments with one pound of pure gold." The law 
of 1792 thus provided for free coinage of gold and silver 
at the ratio of fifteen to one. A dollar of gold contained 
24.75 grains of pure metal, and a dollar of silver 371.25 
(15X24.75) grains. 

The mint continued to coin the precious metals at the 
ratio of fifteen to one until the year 1834, when it was 
found that fifteen pounds of silver was not worth one 
pound of gold. About this time one pound of gold in 
foreign market was worth nearly sixteen pounds of silver. 
The holders of a pound of gold, therefore, were not willing 
to pay it out in the United States, where it was worth but 
fifteen pounds of silver, just as farmers would not be willing 
to exchange a bushel of wheat for seventy-five cents in the 
home market when they could get eighty cents elsewhere. 
As a result of the over- valuation of silver (or the under- 
valuation of gold) there came into operation a monetary 
principle which is known as "Gresham's law," and which 
is usually stated as follows: ''Bad money tends to drive 
out good money, but good money can not drive out bad." 
This law does not mean that either silver or gold is of it- 
self either good or bad. It means that people will pay 
their debts and purchase articles with the cheapest money 
available, and that they will either hoard or send abroad 
the dearer money. Under the law in force before 1834, 
silver was driving gold from circulation, because every- 
body who could do so was holding back his gold, and pay- 
ing his debts and making his purchases in silver. 



MONEY 305 

In order to bring gold back into circulation, Congress 
in 1834 reduced the weight of the gold dollar to 23.22 
grains of pure metal, allowing the silver dollar to remain 
371.25 grains. The ratio thus established was (nearly) six- 
teen to one — a ratio at which the two metals have ever since 
been coined. Under this law the free coinage of both 
metals continued as before. 

It was soon found that the new ratio of sixteen to one 
over-valued gold, and Gresham's law again came into 
operation. This time, since gold was the cheaper money, 
silver was driven from circulation. In 1850 a silver dollar 
was worth $1.02 in gold, and after the discovery of gold 
in California the relative value of silver was still higher. 
As a consequence, between 1837 and 1873 but little silver, 
except in the form of subsidiary coins (see next chapter), 
was coined. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is the meaning of barter? Name some of the con- 
veniences of barter. 

2. Why did the colonists of Virginia use tobacco as money? 
What other commodities were used by the colonists as money? 

3. Give "^ 'reasons why gold and silver are universally used as 
money. 

4. What was the origin of coinage? W^hat is the provision of the 
Constitution in respect to coinage? 

5. Give a definition of paper money. What is legal tender? 

6. Give an account of paper money used during the Revolution. 

7. What does the Constitution say about the issue of paper 
money ? 

8. What is representative money? Contrast representative money 
with paper money. 

9. State the provisions of the coinage law of 1792. .What is 
"Gresham's law" ? Explain how his law has worked in our monetary 
history. 

i 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises ,' 

1. Let us suppose that in 1615 a pound of tobacco in Virginia 
would purchase a bushel of corn; if five years later a pound of to- 
bacco could be raised with half the labor that it formerly took, while 
a busliel of corn required the same amount of labor, how much corn 
could be purchased in 1620 for a pound of tobacco? Why would a 
pound of tobacco in 1620 have less purchasing power than in 1615? 




306 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Is the purchasing power of a piece of monej^ proportional to the 
labor that has been spent in obtaining it? 

2. A man went to Klondike and secured enough gold dust to make 
$5,000 in coin. Describe the travel, the hardships, the labor which 
the money represented. 

3. If a gold-mine as rich as Klondike should be discovered in 
every State, how would the production of gold be affected? Would 
prices be higher or lower after the discovery? What relation exists 
between prices and the amount of money in circulation? If iron 
weijitused as money, would prices be high or low? 

(5^ What properties have diamonds that would make them suitable 
as a medium of exchange? What properties do they lack? 

5. In what places is gold produced in large quantities? Where 
are^he largest silver-mines? 

Do gold and silver fluctuate in value, like cotton and sugar? 
Tpare the price of wheat, silver, cotton, beef, and sugar during 
the last ten years, and determine in which commodity there have 
be^Hj^the greatest variations in value. 

Does the laborer buy money with his labor? Does the capi- 
buy labor with his money? Does the farmer buy money with 
^heat? 
Would you accept a ten-dollar gold piece upon the condition 
thaFyou were not to use it as money? Would it be worth while to 
accept a ten-dollar bill upon similar conditions? 

9. Is legal-tender paper money worth more or less than the paper 
upon which it is printed? 

10. Name all the different kinds of money you have seen. 

11. The law of 1792 quoted in the lesson says: "Every 15 lbs. 
weight of pure silver shall have equal value in all payments with 
one lb. of pure gold." Why fifteen to one? Why rot ten to one? 

12. How many grains of silver are there in a silver half-dollar? 
Are two silver half-dollars worth one silver dollar ? Do they contain 
as much silver as a silver dollar? 

13. If you are worth your weight in gold, how many dollars: are 
you worth? 

14. If a government should open its mints to the free coinage of 
silver and copper, what rate would be established between the two 
metals? (Use the market quotation found in the newspapers.) 

Topics for Special Work 

1. Money: Carver, 292-303. 

2. Development of Metallic Money: Bullock, 224-233. 

3. Bimetallism: Bullock, 303-313. 

4. The Monetary System of the United States : Beard, 374-378. 

5. Conflict over* Bimetallism, 278-279. 




XXXVIII 
THE CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES 

In the preceding chapter we learned of the general characteristics 
of money and of its uses as a medium of exchange. In this chapter 
we shall have an account of the several kinds of currency now in cir- 
culation in the United States. 

Different Kinds of Currency. The term ''currency" in- 
cludes all money, whether metallic or paper, that circulates 
at its face value. The currency of the United States at 
present consists of gold coins, certificates representing gold, 
silver dollars, certificates representing silver, subsidiary 
silver, — half-dollars, quarter-dollars, and dimes, — coins of 
bronze and nickel, United States notes (greenbacks), na- 
tional bank notes, federal reserve notes, and federal reserve 
bank notes.^ 

Gold Coin and Gold Certificates ; Silver Dollars and Silver 
Certificates. The total amount of money in circulation in 
the United States is approximately " $6,000,000,000. Of 
this, nearly one third consists of gold coin, gold certificates, 
silver dollars, and silver certificates. As we have already 
learned, the coinage of gold and silver under the authority 
of the federal government began in 1792. The free coinage 
of the two metals continued until 1873, when Congress dis- 
continued the coinage of silver and established as the unit 
of value the gold dollar of the weight of 23.22 grains of 
fine gold with one tenth of alloy to prevent abrasion. 
The demonetization of silver (i. e., the refusal of the govem- 

1 There are also in circulation a few of the Treasury notes of 1890, but 
inasmuch as these notes are disappearing from circulation they do not require 

our attention. 

307 



308 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ment to coin the metal) was an unpopular measure, and 
gave rise to a long conflict between the friends of silver 
and the friends of gold. After the "battle of the stand- 
ards" had raged for more than a quarter of a century, 
the victory was at last won by the friends of the yellow 
metal. Under the law of 1900, gold was made the 
standard unit of value, and no provision was made for 
the coinage of silver ^ other than that which was already 
in stock. Silver dollars and silver certificates, however, 
are still legal tender, and it is the declared policy of the 
government to keep them on a parity with gold; that 
is to say, when silver certificates are presented to the 
treasury for redemption, it is the polic}^ of the government 
to redeem them in gold at their face value, and if silver 
dollars are presented for exchange, they will be ex- 
changed for gold, dollar for dollar. The coinage of 
gold is free. 

Subsidiary Coinage. The account of the coinage that 
has been given has referred to coins of a denomination of 
one dollar and upward. Silver coins of a denomination 
of less than a dollar have been issued ever since the estab- 
lishment of the mint. These are known as subsidiary coins 
or fractional currenc}^, and consist of the familiar half- 
dollar, quarter-dollar, and dime. These are legal tender 
to the amount of ten dollars. In the half-dollar there are 
173.61 grains of pure metal, and proportional weights in 
the quarter-dollar and dime. Below the subsidiary silver 
are the minor coins of base metal, the five- three- and 
one-cent piece, which are legal tender to the amount of 
twenty-five cents. 

United States Notes (Greenbacks). We learned that 
during the Civil "War the federal government issued large 
quantities of inconvertible paper money, making the 

1 The government, still purchases silver for subsidiary coinage and for coins 
used in the Philippine Islands. 



THE CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES 309 

same a legal tender (p. 293). The notes thus issued are 
officially known as United States notes, but they are popu- 
larly called greenbacks, a name given to them on account 
of the green color of their backs. In all, about $450,- 
000,000 in United States notes was issued. When the 
war was over, the government began to destroy the green- 
backs when they came into the treasury, just as one de- 




THE CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES 

stroys a promissory note when it has been paid. The 
policy of retirement (destruction) of the greenbacks con- 
tinued until 1868, when Congress, giving heed to a popular 
demand, ceased to retire them. Now that they were to 
remain in circulation, measures were taken to make them 
as good as gold. A redemption fund, consisting of $100,- 
000,000 in gold, was provided, and holders of greenbacks 
were given to understand that if they would present the 



310 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

notes to the Secretary of the Treasury he would redeem 
them in gold, dollar for dollar. But it was only in small 
sums that the greenbacks were presented. The knowledge 
that they were as good as gold satisfied everybody, and no 
gold was demanded. 

What was to be done with the greenbacks after they 
were redeemed? Congress (in 1878) answered this ques- 
tion by providing that when a greenback was redeemed in 
specie it ''"'should not be retired, canceled, or destroyed, but 
should be reissued and paid out again and kept in circula- 
tion." So the greenbacks were kept in circulation, and 
to-day they are a familiar form of currency. In 1878 they 
amounted to $346,000,000, and this amount has never been 
materially decreased. 

National Bank Notes. Another familiar form of our cur- 
rency consists of bank notes, nearly two thirds of all the 
money in circulation being currency of this kind. A bank 
note is a promissory note, payable on demand, made and 
issued by a bank and intended to circulate as money. 
Whether a bank note will circulate as money or not ordi- 
narily depends upon the reputation of the bank and upon 
its ability to pay the note when presented for payment. 
If the persons to whom the note is offered have no faith 
in the bank's promise they will not receive the note, and 
its circulation is thereby made impossible. 

Of the bank notes in circulation a very considerable 
number are issued by the national banks. In 1863, in order 
to promote the financial operations of the government dur- 
ing the war, Congress created a system of national banks, 
which became the basis of our banking system as it exists 
at present. The national banking system of to-day may 
be described as follows: 

(1) National banks with a capital of $25,000 may be 
organized in towns of less than 3,000 inhabitants ; in towns 
of more than 3,000 and less than 6,000 inhabitants the 
capital must be not less than $50,000 ; in places of more than 



THE CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES 311 

6,000 and less than 50,000 inhabitants it must be not less 
than $100,000 ; in places of more than 50,000 it must be not 
less than $200,000. 

(2) The organizers of a bank (not less than five in num- 
ber) must purchase United States bonds (issued prior to 
1917) equal in amount to at least one fourth of the capital 
of the bank, and deposit these bonds with the Treasurer of 
the United States at Washington. The bank remains the 
owner of these bonds and receives interest from them. 

(3) The bank receives from the Comptroller of the Cur- 
rency national hank notes equal in amount to the par value 
of the bonds deposited. These bank notes are not legal 
tender; they are promises to pay — like the notes of any 
bank. 

(4) The banks' notes are secured by the bonds in the pos- 
session of the Treasurer of the United States. If a bank 
should fail in business and be unable to redeem its notes 
in legal-tender money, the Comptroller will sell the bonds 
and get the money with which to redeem the notes. A 
bank note is thus as good as a government bond, as good 
as the government itself. Banks frequently fail, but the 
holders of their notes have never lost a dollar by reason 
of the failure. 

Federal Reserve Notes. .Federal Reserve Bank Notes. 
More than half of all the money in circulation consists of 
notes issued by the federal reserve banks, which were estab- 
lished by Congress in 1913. The purpose of these banks is 
two-fold : first, to bring about a more even diffusion through- 
out the country of the money that is already in circulation ; 
and second, to make such additions to the present volume of 
currency as the conditions of trade may require. Under 
the federal reserve act the United States has been marked 
off geographically into twelve districts, and in one of the 
cities of each district there has been established a federal 
reserve bank. The cities that have federal reserve banks 
are : Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, 



312 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, 
(Missouri), Dallas, and San Francisco. The members and 
owners of a federal reserve bank are the national banks 
within the district and such State banks and trust com- 
panies as may choose to join under the conditions laid down 
by the law. 

The federal reserve bank is a bank of banks : its deposit- 
ors are the member banks and the deposits in its vaults 
consist of a certain specified portion of the reserve fund 
which the member banks within the district are required 
by law to keep in their possession for the safety of their 
customers. The borrowers from a reserve bank are the 
member banks within the district. ,A;lBef ore 1914, a very 
large portion of the reserves of banks flowed into two or 
three financial centers, and there was a harmful congestion 
of money in those centers; but under the act of 1913 the 
reserves of the banks of a given district are kept within 
the boundaries of that district and congestion is prevented. 
Yet under certain conditions reserves may flow from one 
district to another, for in an emergency funds may be 
transferred from one reserve bank to another, if in the 
judgment of the Federal Reserve Board (p. 130) the trans- 
fer is desirable. 

The currency issued by the federal reserve banks consists 
of two classes of notes: federal reserve notes and federal 
reserve ha^ik notes. Federal reserve notes are secured, not 
by bonds, as in the case of national bank notes, but by a 
gold reserve equal to 40 per cent, of the face value of the 
note plus an amount of commercial paper (promissory 
notes) equal to 100 i^er cent, of the face value. In addition 
to this security, the United States treasury is pledged to 
redeem in gold or in other lawful monej^ all federal reserve 
notes./s Federal reserve bank notes are secured by the bonds 
of the national government just as national bank notes are 
secured. The issue of notes b}^ federal reserve banks is 
supervised and regulated by the Federal Reserve Board. 



THE CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES 313 

Essential Facts of Our Monetary System. We are now 

prepared to understand the following summary of our 
monetary system: 

(1) The federal government has complete control of all 
currency issues and may issue legal-tender paper money as 
well as gold and silver currency. 

(2) The gold dollar of 23.22 grains is the unit of mone- 
tary value, and the coinage of gold is free. The amount of 
gold coined from year to year is wholly a matter of private 
initiative. Government does not regulate it. The amount 
is regulated by supply and demand — the supply of gold 
bullion and the demand for gold coin. 

(3) Silver dollars and silver certificates and United 
States notes (greenbacks) are exchangeable for gold at 
their face value upon presentation at the treasury of the 
United States. 

(4) This redemption, or exchange, is made possible by 
the reserve fund in gold, which the government keeps in 
its vaults. 

(5) The paper money, when redeemed with gold, is again 
used by the government in the payment of its debts, and 
thus again finds its way into circulation. 

(6) The volume of money in circulation is increased by 

the coinage of gold at the mints and by the notes issued by 

banks. 

Questions on the Text 

"~-l. Name tjie difTerent kinds of currency. 

2. Whai vajbrtion of our currency consists of gold and silver? 
What \^ier,l Me terras of the currency law of 1900? 

3. Give afl account of subsidiary silver coinage. 

4. Sketch ithe history of the United States notes. 

5. What is. a bank note? Give an account of the national bank- 
ing system and of the notes issued by national banks. 

6. Give an acco^unt of the federal reserve system and of the notes 
issued by federal reserve banks. 

7. State the essential facts of our monetary system. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. If you had $100 in a bank and owed a man living at a distance 
$26.87, how would you be likely to pay the debt? Is a bank check 



Q 



14 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 



currency? Does it take the place of currency? A, B, and C meet. 
A owes B $5, B owes C $5, and C owes A $5. A draws a check for 
$5 and pays B; B pays C with the check; C pays A with the check. 
After the transaction is finished and each has a receipt, A remem- 
bers that he had no money in the bank. Can a debt be paid without 
money? 

2. Draw a j^romissory note. Compare the language of the note 
with that found on a national bank note. Under what conditions 
would you accept a promissory note in payment of a debt? 

3. Study what is printed on a national bank note, and answer the 
following questions: is it legal tender for all debts? What is the 
penalty for counterfeiting it? When and where was it issued? 

4. Study what is printed on a federal reserve note, and answer 
the questions asked above. 

5. Suppose a bank note that you hold should be destroyed, would 
the bank gain by reason of the accident? 

6. Study what is printed on a United States note, and answer 
the following questions: In what year did Congress authorize it to 
be issued? Is it legal tender? What is the punishment for coun- 
terfeiting it? It says: "will pay the bearer five dollars." What 
did these words mean at the time the note was issued? What do 
they mean now? 

7. How much currency per capita is in circulation in the United 
States? How much per voter? 

8. Procure, if possible, a gold certificate, a silver certificate, and 
a United States note, and bring them to the class for the purpose 
of study. According to the language on its face, what metal would 
you get for the gold certificate if you should present it at the treas- 
ury for redemption? What metal would you get for the silver cer- 
tificate? Supposing you knew you could get gold for your United 
States note if you asked for gold, would you regard it as good as 
a gold certificate? Supposing you understood that the government's 
supply of gold for redemption purposes was running low, what would 
you be inclined to do with your United States note? Supposing 
you should burn your gold certificate, would the government gain or 
lose? 

Topics fob Special Work 

1. Banking: Carver, 304-316. 

2. Government Paper: Bullock, 263-269. 

3. Use of Money in Making Exchanges: Thompson, 199-212. 

4. Banking and Its History: Thompson, 227-240. 

5. The Federal Reserve Banking System: Munro, 240-242. 



XXXIX 

FOREIGN COMMERCE 

We come now to the great subject of commerce. Commerce may 
be defined as the exchange of goods, merchandise, or property of any 
kind. All governments find it necessary to regulate commerce. In 
the United States the commerce power is divided between the State 
and the federal government. To the federal government belongs the 
power of regulating foreign commerce, interstate commerce, and com- 
merce with Indian tribes. In this chapter we shall learn of the 
regulation of foreign commerce. 

Power of Congress Over Foreign Commerce. The power 
of Congress over foreign commerce is limited in only two 
particulars: (1) It must deal fairly with all the ports of 
the country, and not give one port a preference over an- 
other (68) ; and (2) it must not lay any tax or duty on 
articles exported from any State (67): 

The power of government to regulate commerce is con- 
strued very broadly, and extends not only to the goods ex- 
changed and to the agencies of transportation, but to the 
movement of persons as well. Congress, therefore, in the 
exercise of its constitutional power can do much to in- 
fluence the character of our foreign commerce and to shape 
its course. Indeed, Congress can prohibit foreign com- 
merce altogether, as was illustrated by the non-importation 
act of 1806, and by the embargo act of 1807. Under the 
non-importation act foreign goods could not be brought 
into the country, and under the embargo act vessels could 
not leave the harbors of the United States. During the 
war with Germany Congress laid its hand upon foreign 
trade and directed its movements according to the needs 
of the hour, determining what kinds of goods might leave 
the country and to what country shipments of goods might 
be made. 

315 



316 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

The Tariff; Free Trade and Protection. Of the many 
regulations made by Congress affecting foreign commerce, 
one of the most important refers to the tariff. As hereto- 
fore stated, it has always been the policy of the United 
States to raise a large part of the national revenue by 
means of a tariff or duty laid on imported goods (p. 277). 
On what principle shall the tariff be laid ? Shall every im- 
ported article be taxed at the same rate, or shall some be 
taxed at a high rate and others at a low rate ? Shall 
some kinds of goods be allowed to come in free ? 

From the beginning of our national history to the pres- 
ent time, two distinct policies have been advanced in re- 
ference to foreign goods: (1) the free-trade policy and 
(2) the policy of protection. The adherents of the free- 
trade policy, regarding free commercial intercourse be- 
tween nations as a good thing in itself, contend that taxes 
on foreign goods should be levied, not with the view of 
keeping the goods out of the country, but with the view of 
raising the necessary revenue, and with that view only. 
The adherents of the protective policy, desiring to pro- 
tect home producers from competition with foreign goods, 
would levy the customs not so much with the view of 
raising revenue as with the view of at least discouraging 
importations. 

The essence of the free-trade argument is that, under nor- 
mal conditions of production and competition, a country 
will satisfy its needs with the least possible effort. Those 
things that can be produced with the greatest economy at 
home will be so produced and any surplus will be exchanged 
abroad for what other nations can produce with less effort. 
Commerce between two countries, each of which produces 
according to its natural resources, is always profitable to 
both countries, the free-traders contend, for each coun- 
try exchanges that which it wants less for that which it 
wants more. 

The argument of the protectionist is that by imposing 



FOREIGN COMMERCE 317 

high import duties upon certain classes of goods and 
thereby partly or wholly keeping them out of the country 
you encourage the production of those goods at home, and 
this encouragement results in new occupations and in a 
diversified industry at home. The additional producers 
thus called into being by the protective tariff are also con- 
sumers, and they buy at least a part of the country's sur- 
plus. Another argument for protection is based upon the 
difference in the standards of comfort and rates of wages 
in different countries. If there were no tariff hindrances 
the lower standard and the lower wage would be given the 
advantage in competition and workmen would suffer as a 
result. 

Tariff Legislation. The tariff has been an important issue 
in American politics from the foundation of our govern- 
ment. The first act that was passed by Congress relating 
to foreign commerce imposed moderate duties on the 
commerce of all nations. Its main object was to raise 
revenue, although it had mild protective features. The 
active principle of protection was first seen in a law passed 
in 1816. After the War of 1812 the English manufacturers 
rushed into our markets with their goods ''as if to the at- 
tack of a fortress." To shut out some of these goods and 
protect American manufactures, a duty of 25 per cent, was 
placed upon woolen and cotton goods, and 30 per cent, 
upon certain other goods, notably upon carriages, shoes, . ^ 
and paper. These high duties were not imposed for the -^l^^ 
sole purpose of raising more revenue; they were imposed 
for the protection of the home market. 

After 1816 the protective system was never wholly aban- J 
doned, although a fluctuating policy alwyas modified our Q^^ 
tariff legislation, the rate at one time being brought down ^ 
so low as to delight the free-traders, and at another time ^ 
raised to a point that caused the protectionists to rejoice. -^ 
Although public sentiment in regard to the tariff has ^ ' *\ 



y 



i^j 



^V 




318 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, 

ways been divided, a century of experience has shown 
clearly enough that the American people are strongly in- 
clined to the protective principle. 

The Tariff Commission. Experience has also shown that 
it is next to impossible to frame a tariff law that will meet 
with the general approval of the people. This is because 
the tariff has been made the foot-ball of politics. Rates 
have been fixed, not with the view of benefiting the whole 
nation, but with the purpose of gaining an advantage for 
this or that political party or for this or that section. In 
order to take the tariff out of politics the Tariff Commis- 
sion (p. 130) was created. Of the six members of this 
body, not more than three may be members of the same 
political party. The duty of the commission is to investi- 
gate the fiscal and industrial effects of the customs laws 
and to report the result of their investigation to the Presi- 
dent and to Congress. The commission has no adminis- 
trative or judicial function. It has no power to fix a 
rate; it can only investigate and report. To fix a rate is 
to levy a tax, and the taxing function belongs to Congress 
(44) and is a power that can not be delegated to another 
body. While Congress must continue to determine the 
rates, it is nevertheless expected, and with good reason, that 
the suggestions of the commission will have great weight 
with the law-makers. 

Regulations of Foreign Shipping. In its regulations af- 
fecting vessels engaged in foreign trade. Congress has al- 
ways aimed to protect and promote American shipping 
interests. Only vessels built within the United States and 
wholly belonging to citizens thereof could be registered as 
American until recently, when Congress (in 1912 and 1914) 
amended the laws and allowed foreign-built seaworthy ships 
owned by American citizens to be registered as American 
ships for foreign trade. Moreover, unless a vessel is of- 
ficered by Americans it can not fly the American flag. Ves- 
sels engaged in foreign commerce must, as a rule, pay into 



FOREIGN COMMERCE 319 

the federal treasury a small tonnage tax. Foreign vessels 
can not engage in tlie coasting trade, or in trade between 
1he United States and its insular possessions (except the 
Philippines). 

Foreign Commerce Assisted by the Federal Govern- 
ment. Congress not only regulates foreign commerce, but 
in a very practical fashion, it assists it in many ways. We 
have already seen that the interest of American trade 
abroad is cared for by our consular agents (p. 259). It 
is cared for at home by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic 
Commerce (p. 130). The primary function of this bureau 
is to gather and give out practical data to enable American 
manufacturers to cultivate the markets of the world with 
the greatest possible ell'ect. ''It is constantly watchful at 
many points in the current of commercial life. From the 
bazaars of Madras it transmits textile information to the 
mills of New England. From Bolivia it sends samples of 
hardware to be inspected by the exporting houses of New 
York. On the farms of South Africa and Australia its 
agents investigate the prevailing types of agricultural 
machinery so they may bring that knowledge to the manu- 
facturing enterprises in our Middle West. Tlie represen- 
tatives of the burcriii penetrate to the remote regions of the 
earth, that the exporters of the United States may proceed 
intelligently, on a basis of definite facts, to the conquest of 
J lew fields." ^ 

For the benelits of trade as well as for the saving of hu- 
man life, the federal government supports a Coast Guard 
Service, which patrols the coast and sends out life-boats 
and throws out life-lines to save passengers and cargoes of 
vessels in distress. For the purpose of encouraging, de- 
veloi)ing, and creating a prosperous merchant marine, it 
has established the Shipping Board (p. 130). This board 
may build, purchase, lease, or operate vessels itself or 
lease them to be operated by others. It may also exercise 

1 Annual Report of the Secretary of Commerce, 1916, p. 58. 



320 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

important powers in respect to the regulation of the rates 
and fares charged by common carriers engaged in the for- 
eign trade. 

Questions on the Text 

1, How is power in respect to commerce divided? 

2. "Wiat is the extent of the power that Congress has over foreign 
commerce ? 

**- 3. What is meant by free trade? by protection? Give the lead- 
ing arguments of free trade; of protection. 

4. What can you say of our tariff legislation? 

5'. For what purpose has the Tariff Commission been created? 

6. What regulations of foreign shipping have been made by Con- 
gress ? 

7. In what ways does the federal government give practical as- 
sistance to our foreign trade ? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Name the articles of commerce that can be easily produced in 
the United States. Name those articles that can not be easily pro- 
duced. 

2. Compare graphically the volume of the commerce of the 
United States with that of each of the leading countries of the 
world. ( See Review of World's Commerce, issued by the Bureau of 
Foreign Commerce; also Statesman's Year Book.) 

3. What class of business men suffer when the tariff is suddenly 
raised? When it is suddenly reduced? 

4^ What is meant by reciprocity? What are subsidies? bounties? 

5. To what four countries do we sell the most? From what four 
countries do we buy the most? 

6. What is the present polic}" of each of the political parties in 
reference to the tariff? 

7. "Commercial rivalries end in the battle-field." Is this state- 
ment necessarily true? 

^ What is meant by a "prohibitive tariff" ? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. Free Trade: Carver, 338-347. 

2. Protectionism: Carver, 348-361. 

3. Restriction and International Trade: Bullock, 387-410. 

4. The Tariff in the United States: Thompson, 256-268. 

5. The Trade of the United States: Thompson, 241-255. 



XL 
THE STRANGER WITHIN OUR GATES 

Since passengers as well as goods come within the scope of the 
commerce power, Congress while exercising its control over foreign 
commerce is called upon to regulate immigration. At this point, 
therefore, w6 may take up the subject of immigration and consider 
some of the leading questions connected with our foreign population. 

Extent and Character of the Immigrant Population. 

For more than seventy j^ears foreigners came to our shores 
in an ever swelling tide. The stream of immigrants that 
poured into the United States between 1845 and 1915 was 
the mightiest movement of population in all history. 
Within those years nearly thirty millions of people left 
foreign countries to seek homes in America. In the earlier 
years of the movement the immigrants came from western 
Europe, from England, Scotland^ Ireland, Germany, and 
France. After the close of the Civil War a tide of im- 
migration began to flow strong from Norway and Sweden 
and Denmark. The immigration from the northern coun- 
tries of Europe continued until nearly one fourth of all 
the Scandinavians in the world had settled in the region 
that stretches from Lake Michigan to Puget Sound. In 
the last years of the nineteenth century another great 
stream of immigrants set in. This time they came from 
southern and southeastern Europe — Italians, Greeks, Slavs, 
Poles, Bohemians, Slovaks, Ruthenians, Serbs, Magyars, 
Croats. The new stream in the opening years of the 
twentieth century became a flood. In a single year (1907) 
there were admitted into the United States nearly a mil- 
lion and a half foreigners, the great majority of whom 
came from southern and southeastern Europe. 

321 



322 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

The result of the sudden and mighty influx of recent 
years went far toward changing the character and the 
complexion of the American population. At the outbreak 
of the war with Germany one third of our people had to 
be classified as being of foreign parentage, while the for- 
eign-born numbered one sixth of all the adults in the coun- 
try. Never before had the foreign-born and their children 
formed so large a proportion of the American people. In 
Detroit and Cleveland but one man out of five had parents 
born in this country; in Chicago and New York, one out 
of six; in Milwaukee, one out of seven; and in Pall River, 
one out of nine! 

Restrictions upon Immigration. The regulation of this in- 
coming tide of humanity devolves upon the federal govern- 
ment. Before 1808 Congress, by the terms of the Consti- 
tution (Art. I, Sec. 9), was prevented from interfering 
with the admission of foreigners. Since that date, how- 
ever, Congress has had full control of immigration. 

In dealing with questions relating to the admission or 
exclusion of foreigners, the federal government has gen- 
erally pursued a liberal policy. It has thrown wide open 
the doors of hospitality and given a welcome to the strangers 
of almost every land. 

About. 1880, however, America began to feel that immi- 
gration on aiarge scale was no longer desirable, and de- 
manded that restraints be placed upon the admission of 
foreigners. First the Chinese were excluded. In 1882 
Congress prohibited Chinese laborers from coming into the 
United States, and but few of these people have entered 
since the exclusion law was passed. In the same year Con- 
gress ordered that the character of all immigrants be looked 
into, and commanded that convicts, lunatics, idiots, and 
other persons not able to take care of themselves should not 
be admitted into the United States, but should be sent back 
at the expense of the owners of the vessels upon which they 
came. By a law of 1885 it is made unlawful for certain 



THE STRANGER WITHIN OUR GATES 323 



classes of laborers to enter the United States, if they 
have previously entered into a contract to perforin labor 
here, and any person brought here under a contract to 
perform labor can be sent back at the expense of the vessel 
that brings him. 

While immigration was flowing so strong between 1895 




WHERE THE FOREIGNERS COME FROM 
(This chart shows the several countries from which foreigners 
in America have come and the percentage of the total foreign- 
born population coming from each country. The total foreign- 
born population in 1910 was 13,515,886.) 

and 1915, there arose a demand for further restriction. 
The demand became so insistent that Congress at last re- 
sponded and passed (1917) the Burnett Bill. This law 



raised the tax on immigrants from $4 to 



it imposed 



heavier penalties for bringing in persons whom the law 
seeks to exclude ; its provisions in respect to contract labor 



324 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

were made harder; and, above all, it provided a ''literacy 
test" by requiring that all immigrants over sixteen years 
of age shall be able to read in some language. 

The execution of the exclusion laws is vested in the 
commissioner-general of immigration, the head of the 
Bureau of Immigration in the federal Department of Labor 
(p. 130). The commissioner-general issues orders for 
carrying out the immigration laws, protects aliens from 
fraud and loss, and looks after the deportation of undesir- 
able aliens. 

Benefits of Immigration. While putting up the bars 
against immigrants, we must not forget the important part 
that immigration has played in the development of our 
country. For in the upbuilding of America we have relied 
in no small degree upon the brain and brawn of the for- 
eigner. Had it not been for the millions of immigrants 
who have come to us from England, Ireland, Germany, 
Scandinavia, France, and Italy, a large part of the United 
States would doubtless still be a wilderness. And at the 
present time the services of immigrants in the industrial 
life of the nation are immense. The immigrant with truth 
may say .to himself: '>s»*'^ 

^*T'^£^ seven tenths of the bituminous coal mining. 

I a? seven eighths of all the labor in the woolen mills. 

I contribute nine tenths of ► all the labor in, the cotton- 
mills. , - ' ^ 

I make nineteen twentieths of all the clothing. 

I manufacture more than half the shoes. 

I build four fifths of all the furniture. 

I make half of the collars, cuffs, and shirts 

I turn out four fifths of all the leather. 

I make half the gloves. 

I refine nineteen twentieths of the sugar. 

I make half the tobacco and cigars. 

I contribute 80 per cent, of all the labor in the slaughter- 
ing and meat-packing industries. 



THE STRANGER WITHIN OUR GATES 325 

Nat^ttralization. The immigrant does not expect to re- 
main a stranger in America. He looks forward to the time 
when he shall be a citizen of the United States. He may 
become a citizen by complying with the regulations pre- 
scribed by Congress (48) for naturalization. The proc- 
ess of naturalization is as follows: (1) At least two years 
before he can be admitted as a citizen, the alien must ap- 
pear before a State or a federal court and take an oath that 
it is his intention to become a citizen of the United States 
and ''to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any 
foreign prince or state, and particularly to the one of which 
he may at the time be a citizen or subject." He must also 
swear to support the Constitution of the United States. 
(2) Not less than two years nor more than seven years 
after this declaration of his intention, the alien may peti- 
tion a federal or a State court for full admission as a citi- 
zen. In the petition he shall set forth that he is not a dis- 
believer in or opposed to organized government ; that he is 
not an anarchist ; that he is not a polygamist or a believer 
in polygamy; and that it is his intention to reside in the 
United States. If the judge of the court is satisfied that 
the alien applicant is able to speak the English language 
and write his own name, that he has resided in the United 
States for five years, and that he is a person of good moral 
character, full citizenship will be (inferred upon him. 
Alien Chinese and Japanese are not entitled to be natural- 
ized. 

A person naturalized has the same rights as a native- 
bom citizen of the United States. He has the same rights 
in regard to property; the same right to earn a living for 
himself and family; the right to enjoy that which he has 
earned ; the same right to vote ; and the same right to hold 
ofiice and participate in affairs of government. A natural- 
ized person may not, however, become the President or 
Vice-President of the United States (86). "When a for- 
eign-bom head of a family is naturalized, his wife and his 



326 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

children, if they are residents of the United States, by his 
act automatically become citizens. 

Until quite recently our naturalization laws were ad- 
ministered in an extremely careless manner. The natural- 
ization of the foreigner was too often attended to by politi- 
cians seeking votes, and in the days just preceding an 
election aliens in our large cities were admitted in great 
numbers. Sometimes as many as fifty naturalization cases 
would be hurried through a court in an hour. Of course, 
under such circumstances, the merits of the applicants could 
not be inquired into carefully. The result was that many 
were admitted in a fraudulent manner, and many wholly un- 
worthy persons were allowed to call themselves American 
citizens. 

After more than a century of indifference and neglect, 
measures were at last taken for guarding the gates of 
citizenship and keeping out the unworthy and the unfit. 
The federal Bureau of Naturalization (p. 130) was estab- 
lished and given large powers of supervision in matters of 
naturalization. An important function of this bureau is 
to encourage and assist applicants for naturalization papers 
to prepare themselves for the day when the courts shall 
come to pass judgment upon their applications. Agents of 
the bureau in different parts of the country get in touch 
with aliens who are about to be naturalized, and inform 
them that before they can be admitted as citizens they will 
be required to show that they possess an elementary knowl- 
edge of our government and institutions. The agents do 
all they can to help the candidate acquire the necessary in- 
formation, and through their activities hundreds of thou- 
sands of foreigners are reached and instructed in the lead- 
ing facts of the American government. 

Americanization. But a mere preparation for the tests 
of naturalization is not enough. After the outbreak of 
the war with Germany, it became plain that the alien prob- 



THE STRANGER WITHIN OUR GATES 327 

lem was vastly more serious than had been supposed. The 
startling fact was revealed that of the 17,000,000 for- 
eigners then among us nearly 6,000,000 were such complete 
strangers in America and cared so little for us that they 
had no desire to become citizens of the United States. Mil- 
lions of them could neither understand nor speak our lan- 
guage. In New York City alone there were more than half 
a million men and women who could not speak, read, or 
write English. In respect to our government and laws and 
traditions they were, of course, in a woeful state of ignor- 
ance. 

So the presence of these millions of aliens involves more 
than the problem of naturalization: it involves the prob- 
lem of Americanization. The foreigner must be assimi- 
lated into the American life of the community in which he 
lives. He must be taught to speak the language of Amer- 
icans ; he must learn to live in the American way ; he must 
acquire a knowledge of American government and of 
Amercan institutions ; he must be indoctrinated in Ameri- 
can ideals and acquire an affection for America itself. In 
brief, our alien must become an American through and 
through, if he is to get the best from America and if Amer- 
ica is to get the best from him. 

' Questions on the Text 

1. Give an account of the extent and nature of the immigration 
of recent years, 

2. What has been the history and policy of our government in 
regard to immigration? What restrictions have been placed upon 
the admission of immigrants? 

3. What can you say of the benefits of immigration? 

4. What are the chief steps in the process of naturalization? 
What are the rights acquired by naturalization? Give an account 
of the achievements of the Bureau of Naturalization, 

5. What problem does the presence of the alien involve? What 
do you understand by the term Americanization? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Prepare a chart showing graphically the annual immi- 
gration into the United States since the year 1900. 



328 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

2. Prepare a chart showing graphically the annual immigra- 
tion of the following races since 1900: Irish, English, French, Ger- 
man, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Danish. 

3. Are there many aliens in this community? If so, to what 
races do they chiefly belong? 

4. Has an effort been made in this State to Americanize the 
alien population? If so, describe what has been done. 

5. Is there Americanization work in which you could engage with 
profit to the community and to the country? If so, give an account 
of what you could do. 

Topics foe Special Woek 

1. The Immigration Problem: Elwood, 211-245. 

2. Control of Congress over Immigration: Munro, 255-256. 

3. Effect of Immigration on Cities: Munro, 575-576. 

4. Immigration: Beard, 387-390. 

5. Naturalization: Gettell, 309. 



XLI 
TRANSPORTATION 

We now turn to the subject of domestic commerce. This is a topic 
of the highest importance, for the internal trade of the United States 
is in its magnitude vastly greater than the foreign trade. Since the 
power of government over domestic commerce extends both to the 
goods exchanged and to the agencies of transportation, the regula- 
tion of domestic commerce must be treated under two distinct head- 
ings — namely, the regulation of commercial transactions and the 
regulation of transportation. In this chapter the subject will be 
the regulation of transportation. 

Interstate and Intrastate Commerce. In order to under- 
stand the subject before us, we must learn to draw clearly 
the line that separates interstate from intrastate commerce. 
Broadl}^ speaking, when a commercial transaction begins in 
one State and ends in another, that transaction is a subject 
of interstate commerce ; but when a commercial transaction 
begins and ends in the same State it is a subject of intra- 
state commerce. When a merchant ships his goods from a 
point in a State to a point within the same State, he engages 
in intrastate commerce ; when he ships them to a point out- 
side of the State, he is engaged in interstate commerce. A 
railroad that has its termini and the whole length of its 
tracks within the State cannot be regarded as being engaged 
in interstate commerce, but a railroad that has its termini in 
different States must be so regarded. A river lying wholly 
within a State and having no connection with bodies of 
water extending beyond the boundaries of the State — a 
thing that rarely ever occurs — is an instrument of intrastate 
commerce ; but a river wholly within a State connecting 

with navigable waters that extend beyond the boundaries of 

329 



330 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the State is regarded as an instrument of interstate com- 
merce. Does a certain commercial act or a certain instru- 
ment of commerce, a river, a canal, a railroad, concern one 
State or more than one ? If it concerns one State only it is 
an affair of intrastate commerce; if it concerns more than 
one State it is an affair of interstate commerce. With this 
explanation we may pass to the principal theme of the 
chapter. 

Highways. The framers of the Constitution gave Congress 
complete power to regulate commerce between the States 
(47), but the power of the State over intrastate commerce 
was left untouched. The State, therefore, has charge of 
intrastate highways, railroads, and canals. 

Of the means of transportation the most important are 
the highways. Almost every movement of freight or pas- 
sengers begins upon a common highway, upon a paved 
street, or upon a country road. In cities the construction 
and maintenance of roads and streets and bridges is a func- 
tion of the municipal government. In rural districts the 
construction and maintenance of the highways is in some 
States a distinct function of local government — of the 
county or village or township. In many States, however, 
the local government cooperates with the State in the build- 
ing of highways. Thus, in Pennsylvania the State cooper- 
ates with the counties and townships in the building of cer- 
tain classes of roads known as State-aid highways, the 
State paying a part of the cost of such highway, the county 
a part and the township a part. 

Since the appearance of the automobile and the motor- 
truck, liighways have come to have more than a local interest 
and their control has become more and more a matter of 
State concern. , In an increasing number of States, high- 
ways to a greater or less extent, are being taken out of the 
hands of the local governments and are being placed under 
the control of the State authorities. Along with the move- 
ment toward State control there has been an increase in 



TRANSPORTATION 331 

the amount of money contributed by the State for high- 
way construction and maintenance. In many cases the 
sums appropriated by the State legislatiires for the support 
of the highways runs into the millions, and in not a few 
States the bonds issued for purposes of road-building runs 
into the tens of millions. It was estimated that at the 
beginning of 1920 there would be funds amounting to 
$600,000,000 available for highway construction in the 
United States. 

For the management and supervision of highways there 
has been created in every State a central agency, usually 
known as the State Highway Commission. For the effi- 
cient performance of its work the commission employs a 
force of capable civil engineers, draftsmen, and road- 
builders. In some States the Highway Commission not only 
cooperates with the local authorities in the matter of high- 
way improvement, but in addition contracts and maintains 
outright a system of State roads. In some cases the High- 
way Commission exercises an absolute control over several 
thousand miles of State highways. 

In recent years the federal government has been cooper- 
ating with the State in matters of highway improvement. 
Under the Federal Aid Roads Bill, enacted in 1916, appro- 
priations are made by Congress for highway improvement 
throughout the United States. The money thus appropri- 
ated is divided among the forty-eight States, each State 
receiving a sum apportioned in the following manner: one 
third in the ratio that the population of each State bears 
to the population of all the States; one third in the ratio 
that the area of each State bears to the area of all the 
States ; and one third in the ratio that the mileage of rural- 
delivery routes and star routes in each State bears to the 
total mileage of rural-delivery routes and star routes in 
all the States. As a condition of receiving its portion of 
the federal appropriation, each State must spend out of its 
own treasury every year as much money as it receives from 
the national treasury, and must maintain a State Highway 




MAP SHOWING- THE STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM OF CALIFORNIA 

332 



TRANSPORTATION 333 

Commission with which the federal government may cooper- 
ate. The Federal Aid Roads Bill is administered by the 
Bureau of Public Roads, one of the bureaus in the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. For the fiscal year 1920 the federal 
appropriation for road improvement was $95,000,000. 

Railroads. Next to the highways, steam railroads and 
electric car lines are the most important instruments of 
transportation. Ordinarily, the electric car lines v/ithin a 
city come within the regulation of the State under its power 
over intrastate commerce, although many of the interurban 
lines cross State lines and are therefore brought under the 
federal power. Most steam railroads do an interstate. busi- 
ness, although not a few have their terminals inside the 
boundaries of a State. It must be understood, however, 
that, even though a railroad has the whole length of its 
tracks within a State, it becomes subject to federal regula- 
tion the moment its activities involve it in interstate busi- 
ness. 

The intrastate traffic of railroads is sufficiently heavy to 
demand a large share of attention upon the part of the 
State. In virtually every State there is a State Railroad 
Commission, or Public Utilities Commission, having large 
powers of supervision and control over the intrastate busi- 
ness of the railroads. These State commissions see that 
the railroads do not favor one locality or one individual at 
the expense of another; they cause railroads to publish 
their rates; they supervise the construction of crossings; 
they compel the railroads to conform to the constitution and 
the laws of the State. In a number of States the Railroad 
Commission (or the Public Utility Commission) fixes the 
rates a carrier may charge between two points located 
within the boundaries of a State. When fixing intrastate 
rates, however, a State must not do anything that will re- 
sult in discrimination against places located in another 
State, and it must not place an luijust burden upon inter- 
state transportation. 



334 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

The Interstate Commerce Commission. The great prob- 
lems of transportation are of an interstate rather than of 
an intrastate character. The power of Congress over inter- 
state commerce is comprehensive and far-reaching. It ex- 
tends not only to the instruments of commerce, — to canals 
and vessels and railways and telephone and telegraph lines, 
— but to the persons engaged in interstate trade, and even 
to the articles of commerce themselves. 

Although Congress possessed this power from the begin- 
ning, nearly a hundred years passed before the power was 
brought into vigorous use. In 1887 Congress, for the pur- 
pose of remedjdng evils that had been creeping into rail- 
road^ management, established the Interstate Commerce 
Commission (p. 130) and clothed it with some substantial 
Xjowers. The creation of this commission was the first im- 
portant step in a movement that at last resulted in 
bringing the railroads under the complete control of gov- 
ernment. 

Under the law of 1887 the Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission was given power to compel railroad officers to pro- 
duce their books and give testimony when called upon to do 
so ; to take notice of violations of the law and to order the 
violator to desist from his illegal acts and fine him if he 
persisted in them; to provide a uniform system of rail- 
way accounting; and to obtain from each road an annual 
report of its operations and finances. The law creating 
the commission declared that freight and passenger rates 
should be just and reasonable ; that there should be no dis- 
crimination between persons or between localities; that 
there should be proper facilities for the interchange of traf- 
fic between connecting lines ; that free passes should not be 
issued; and that railroads should print and make public 
their freight and passenger rates. In respect to the all-im- 
portant subject of rate-fixing the language of the law was 
vague and indefinite. When the question respecting the 
power to fix rates was at last settled (in 1897) in the courts, 
it was found that Congress had not given the Commission 



TRANSPORTATION 335 

such power as would enable it to fix effectively the rates that 
railroads should charge. 

But the question of rates was bound to come up again. 
It came up in 1906, when Congress gave the Commission, 
upon the complaint of an interstate shipper (or passenger), 
the power to do away with a rate that it regarded as un- 
just or unreasonable, and to fix a new rate that it regarded 
as just and reasonable. The law broadened the term ''com- 
merce carrier" so as to bring under the power of the com- 
mission not only railroads but express companies, sleeping- 
car companies, and pipe-lines carrying oil. 

The law of 1906 did not bring shippers the relief that 
was expected. Accordingly, in 1910 Congress again came 
forward with a law that went further in the regulation of 
railroads than any that had preceded. Under the law of 
1906 the Commission could change rates only after com- 
plaint was made by a shipper. The law of 1910 went a 
step further — and it was a very long step indeed — and 
gave the Commission power to make investigations upon its 
own motion and with its own agents, and if it found cer- 
tain rates unreasonable and unjust it was authorized to 
change them, even though shippers had made no complaint. 
Moreover, under the law of 1910, proposed new rates could 
be suspended in their operation by the act of the Commis- 
sion, and if they were found by that body to be unjust or 
unreasonable they could not go into operation at all. 

Thus it may be seen that the law of 1910 had very sharp 
teeth. Under it the power of the Commission to regulate 
rates was virtually complete. Still, in all cases the rail- 
roads could appeal to the courts of the United States and 
the decision of the Commission could be overruled if it were 
found that the rates in question were unjust or unreason- 
able. 

Transportation Act of 1920. In 1918 the railroads were 
taken over by the government as a war measure, and for 
two years they were under federal control. In 1920 they 



336 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

were returned to their owners. The law terminating fed- 
eral control — known as the Transportation Act — provided 
that the Interstate Commerce Commission should divide 
the railroads of the country into rate-making groups, but 
for a period of two years the rates must be high enough to 
yield a net operating income of at least 51/2 per cent, on the 
value of the railroads within each group. 

This guaranty of a minimum rate of profit was made in 
order to strengthen the credit of the railroads, so that they 
might be able to borrow money sufficient for their needs. 
Profits above 6 per cent, were to be divided evenly between 
the road earning the excess profit and the government, the 
government's share going into a pool, or common fund, for 
assisting the weaker lines. The law thus undertook to com- 
pel the more prosperous lines to assist the weaker ones. 
The law of 1920 also gave the Interstate Commerce Com- 
mission power to regulate the bond issues of railroads, a 
power that it ought to have had much earlier. For many 
of the evils attending railroad management have grown out 
of the unwise and unregulat '1 issuance of bonds. 

The Transportation Act created a Railway Labor Board 
consisting of nine members, to be appointed by the Presi- 
dent. Three of the members of the Board must be repre- 
sentatives of the railroad workers, three of the railroad 
officials, and three of the general public. The central office 
of the Board is to be located in Chicago. The salary of 
each member is $10,000 a year. The Board, when called 
upon to do so, may, after investigation, fix just and reason- 
able wages and salaries for railroad workers ; but if its rul- 
ings are not complied with, if the workers refuse to accept 
the wages fixed by the Board and strike, the trains must stop 
running. For there is no penalty for violating a ruling of 
the Board. AAHien a decision of the Board is disobeyed, its 
only recourse is to make a public statement and rely upon 
public opinion to give sanction to its findings. 



TRANSPORTATION s337 

Questions on the Text 

1. Distinguish between interstate and intrastate commerce. 

2. To what agencies of transportation does the power of the State 
extend? Give an account of highway control. What are the leading 
provisions of the Federal Aid Roads Bill? 

3. Give an account of the intrastate control of railroads. 

4. To what agencies of transportation does the power of Con- 
gress extend? Why was the Interstate Commerce Commission 
created? What were the powers of this commission under the law 
of 1887? under the law of 1006? under the law of 1910? 

5. What are the leading provisions of the Transportation Act 
of 1920? What is the composition of the Eailway Labor Board? 
What are the powers of this board? 

Suggestive Questions and Exekcises 

1. What does the constitution of this State say about commerce? 

2. What are the constitutional provisions in this State in refer- 
ence to railroads? in reference to roads? 

3. Prepare a five-minute paper on the value of good roads. 

4. Does this community suffer on account of bad roads? If so, 
in what way does it suffer? 

5. Prepare a five-minute paper on the commerce of your State, 
naming the principal articles of its commerce, describing its com- 
mercial centers, its highways, its railways, and its waterways. 

/^ Name six great railway systems engaged in interstate com- 
melSe. 

(U^ Do you think the federal government should assist in road- 
burning? Do you think it should own and operate the railroads? 

8. How much money did the federal government spend last year 
on the improvements of rivers and harbors? What share of this 
money did the State receive? 

9. What effect has the Erie Canal had on the commerce of the 
Uni^d States? 

((^g) Examine the map of the United States and determine where 
canals beneficial to commerce might be constructed. What would be 
the probable effect on commerce of a canal connecting the Missis- 
sippi River and the southern waters of Lake Michigan? From what 
quarter would opposition to such a canal come? 

11. Name the great inland centers of commerce in the United 
States. Describe how the commerce of each may have Ijeen in- 
fluenced (1) by rivers, (2) by canals, (3) by roads, (4) by rail- 

(2^) Debate this question: The telegraph business should be con- 
ducted by the post-office department. 

Topics for Special Work 

L/jMotorized Highwavs: Cleveland and Schafer, 358-381. 
2.'|The Railroad ProlDlem: Cleveland and Schafer, 382-396. 



338 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

3. Transportation: Carver, 233-244; Thompson, 154-166. 

4. Government Control of Railroads: Bullock, 361-372. 

5. Tlie Power of Congress to Control Interstate Commerce: Kaye, 

483-485. 

6. Municipal Raihvay Regulation: Zueblin, 30-54. 



XLII 
COEPORATIONS 

When considering the commerce power in its relation to business 
transactions, we find ourselves chiefly concerned with the subject of 
corporations, for it is through the agency of corporations that the 
great volume of business is transacted. We have already learned 
what a corporation is and what the characteristic features of a cor- 
poration are (p. 65). We have also learned that corporations are 
either public or private, and our study of municipalities was a study 
of the public or political corporation. We shall now take up the 
subject of the private corporation, and learn of its place in the 
modern business world, and of the governmental control to which 
it is subjected. 

The Corporation in Modern Life. To-day the corpora- 
tion is one of the most important factors of civilization. 
Corporations employ five sixths of the labor in our mills 
and turn out six sevenths of the product. Corporations 
supply us with the fuel we burn ; they spin and weave the 
cloth we wear; they control the manufacture and sale of 
much of the food we eat; they supply the furniture in 
our houses, the dishes on our tables, the utensils in our 
kitchens, the books in our libraries, the tools in our shops, 
the implements on our farms ; they lend us money and they 
invest our money for us ; they insure our lives ; they carry 
us from place to place on trolley lines and railroads and 
steamboats. In whatever direction we turn in the financial 
or commercial or industrial world, we meet the private cor- 
poration. 

How Corporations are Created and Controlled. The 

charters (p. 65) under which corporations conduct busi- 
ness are nearly always granted by State authority. The 

339 



340 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Constitution of the United States has no specific provisions 
in reference to corporations, yet Congress can and does 
grant charters to corporations organized for carrying on 
enterprises that come within the range of federal authority. 
For example, Congress, under its power to regulate cur- 
rency, has granted charters to the national and federal re- 
serve banks; under its power to establish post roads (51), 
it has granted charters to transcontinental railway com- 
panies; under its power to regulate foreign commerce, it 
has established a corporation for the building of ships. 
As a rule, however, the creation of corporations is a State 
function. 

The power to regulate and control corporations is divided 
between the State and the federal government. A corpora- 
tion engaging in interstate business is subject to the federal 
power; but a corporation whose business is carried on ex- 
clusively within a State is subject only to the power of the 
State. Since virtually all corporations engage to a greater 
or less extent in interstate business, the ]3ower of the federal 
government to control and regulate corporations is very ex- 
tensive. 

Growth of the Trusts. Although the power of the federal 
government over interstate business existed from the begin- 
ning, the hand of Congress was not felt by industrial cor- 
porations until L'j in the nineteenth century, after the 
trust had made its appearance. About 1880 corporations 
began to combine in order to protect themselves against the 
ravages of competition. For many corporations had now 
become industrial giants, and when they met in the market 
as rivals competing for trade they fought like giants. The 
competition was so fierce and disastrous that it played havoc 
with profits. At first an effort was made to stifle competi- 
tion by m.ea.ns of the pool. Several corporations engaged 
in the same business would place the marketing of their 
products under a central management, and would agree 
upon a uniform scale of prices and upon the amount of 



CORPORATIONS 341 

goods that eacli separate corporation was to produce and 
sell. Under this arrangement there was no higgling of the 
market; the buyer was held strictly to the prices fixed by 
the pool. The intention of the pool was plainly to kill 
competition and establish a virtual monopoly.^ Now, 
monopoly is not only contrary to the constitution of most 
of the States, but it is also contrary to the instincts of the 
American people. So the pool was declared illegal, and 
combinations of this kind were dissolved. 

Next the corporations resorted to the trust-agreement. 
The combining companies deposited their stocks with a 
central board of trustees and received in exchange trust 
certificates. The trustees managed the business of the unit- 
ing companies, fixing prices and controlling the output of 
each constituent corporation. For certain kinds of trans- 
actions the trust-agreement is historic and strictly legal; 
but as an industrial combination it was only the pool in 
disguise. It was monopoly, and was so declared by the 
courts. So the trust-agreement, like the pool, was driven 
from the industrial vvorld. 

But the corporations were not to be thwarted. They still 
continued their efforts to avoid competition by means of 
combination. A corporation could not combine outright 
with another corporation within the same State, for nearly 
all the States forbid such a combination. Corporations in 
different States could not combine without the consent of 
each of the States in which it was desired to effect the 
combination, and this consent could not be obtained. How, 
then, could the corporations combine? A law of New 
Jersey passed in 1889 provided a way. This law permitted 
the formation in New Jersey of corporations that should 
have the power of purchasing the stock and property of any 
other corporation engaged in any kind of business in any 
State (excepting New Jersey) or in any country. Here 
was the opportunity the corporations were seeking. A cor- 

1 A monopoly is an exclusive privilege to deal in or control the sale of cer- 
tain things. Congress grants a monopoly to authors and inventors (52). 



342 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

poration, by organizing in New Jersey and securing the 
stocks of the corporations that it wished to bring into a 
combination, could become the owner of those corporations, 
and could then, of course, control both the prices of their 
goods and the amount of goods produced. And this was 
what was done. Corporations that wished to combine 
merged and blended their interests into one giant holding 
corporation, a corporation of corporations, a trust, so 
called. Other States followed New Jersey in granting 
liberal charters to corporations, and under the new laws 
the combination of corporations proceeded on a sca^'^; so 
startling in its proportions that it seemed as if practically 
the whole field of industry would be brought under the 
control of the trusts. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Trusts. The trusts 
flourished because, as producers of goods, they had certain 
advantages over the smaller companies. Their chief advan- 
tage lay in the direction of economy in production. They 
had the best equipped establishments; their plants were 
located with the view of reducing freight expenses; they 
made use of only the most desirable patents; they carried 
the division of labor to the highest point of efficiency ; they 
saved large sums in office expenses and in expenses of 
salesmanship. In these and other ways they reduced the 
cost of production to the lowest possible point. 

But it could not be denied that the trusts were the source 
of many evils. For one thing, they frequently drove com- 
petitors out of business by selling at a temporary loss, and 
as soon as they gained possession of the market they raised 
their prices to a profit in excess of that possible under com- 
petition. Then they ''watered" their stock; that is, they 
authorized and floated stock far in excess of the cash value 
of their property. The attempt of the trust to continue in 
hard times the dividends upon a large bulk of "watered" 
stock placed an unnecessary burden upon consumers and 
laborers — upon the consumer in the form of high prices; 



CORPORATIONS 343 

upon the laborer in tlie form of lower wages. But the 
most serious charge against the trusts was that they led to 
a dangerous concentration of wealth. For never in all 
history had money flowed into the pockets of individuals in 
streams so large as those that flowed into the pockets of the 
trust magnates. 

The Federal Government and the Trusts. In order to 
check the onward march of the trusts, Congress in 1890 
passed the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. This famous law de- 
clared: ''Every contract, combination in the form of trust 
or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or com- 
merce among the several States or with foreign nations, 
is hereby declared illegal. Every person who shall monop- 
olize or attempt to monopolize or combine or conspire with 
any other person or persons to monopolize any part of the 
trade or commerce among the several States or with for- 
eign nations shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by 
fine or imprisonment or by both. ' ' It further declared that 
any person who should be injured in his business or prop- 
erty through the unlawful action of a trust should be en- 
titled to recover threefold the damages sustained. 

Statesmen hoped that the Sherman Act would curb the 
trusts and restore competition ; but they were disappointed. 
The forces of concentration were not checked. At the open- 
ing of the twentieth century nearly one third of all indus- 
tries, excluding that of agriculture, had been brought under 
the control of the trusts. Vigorous efforts were made by 
the federal government to enforce the Sherman Act. 
Suits were brought against the oil trust, the steel trust, the 
agricultural implement trust, the tobacco trust, and others; 
but the net result of this legal warfare was small. The 
barrenness of the anti-trust crusade was seen in the case 
of the oil trust. 

In 1911 the Supreme Court of the United States decided 
that the Standard Oil Company was violating the Sherman 
Act and that it must be dissolved ; that it must relinquish 



344 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

its control over the constituent companies, of which there 
were thirty-three, and give to each of these minor com- 
panies its proportionate share of the stock. This was done, 
and it was thought that a great victory had been won over 
the oil trust. But it was not a very useful victory, for 
the small group of men who had controlled the consolidated 
company was composed of the very men who were to con- 
trol the several independent companies that had been com- 
pelled to sever their relations with the trust. Under such 
conditions of ownership, anything like vigorous competi- 
tion was out of the question. 

In 1914 Congress came forward once more with measures 
designed to lubricate the wheels of competition. Declar- 
ing unfair methods of competition to be unlawful, it estab- 
lished the Federal Trade Commission (p. 130), and gave 
it power to prevent persons, partnerships, and corporations 
(excepting banks and railroads, for these were governed by 
other agencies) from using unfair methods in trade. 
This commission hears the complaints of business men who 
are suffering by reason of the dishonest practice of their 
rivals. Among the complaints to which it may give heed 
are false advertising, price discrimination (selling to one 
person at one price and to another at another price), 
bribery of employees, misbranding of goods, rebates, and 
the like. 

And what does the commission do with the complaints? 
If, after investigation, it has reason to believe that a 
complaint is just^ it orders the offending party to desist 
from the unfair practice with which he is charged. If the 
offender obeys the order of the commission, that is the end 
of the matter. If he does not obey, he is liable to be brought 
before a federal court, and if found guilty to be punished 
if he does not desist from the unfair practice. It will be 
observed that there are a good many "ifs" here, and that 
a good many things have to be done before the wrong- 
doer can actually be punished for his offense. 

At present (1920) the power of the 'Federal Trade Com- 



CORPORATIONS 345 

mission is greatly limited, but its arm can be strengthened 
by Congress. The Interstate Commerce Commission at first 
could do little in the way of controlling the railroads ; but as 
the years passed Congress gave it more and more power, 
until at last it was vested with authorit}^ to fix even the 
rates that carriers might charge. So, too, it may come 
about that the powers of the Federal Trade Commission 
will be increased, and that some day it will become 
one of the most powerful agencies of the federal govern- 
ment. 

The law creating the Federal Trade Commission was 
quickly followed by the Clayton Trust Bill. This law 
supplements the Sherman Act and is aimed directly at 
monopoly. The Clayton law makes it unlawful for any 
concern to discriminate in price betv/een different purchas- 
ers where the effect of such discrimination is substantially 
to lessen competition or create a monopoly in any line of 
trade ; it forbids any corporation from acquiring the whole 
or any part of the stock of another corporation where the 
effect of such acquisition may substantially lessen competi- 
tion between the corporation whose stock is acquired and 
the corporation making the acquisition ; it forbids the inter- 
locking of directorates; that is, it forbids directors in cer- 
tain classes of corporations to serve as directors in corpora- 
tions conducting the same line of business. The law, how- 
ever, declares that the labor of a human being is not a 
commodity or article of commerce, and labor unions and 
farmers' organizations, when they have no capital stock 
and are not conducted for profit, are exempted from the 
operations of the law. 

Btate Governments and the Trusts. The federal govern- 
ment has not been alone in waging war upon the trusts. 
For in many cases the State government has attempted to 
stem the tide of monopoly. For example, in Ohio a trust 
is defined by the law to be a combination of capital, skill, 
or acts, by two or more persons, firms, partnerships, cor- 



346 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

porations, or associations of persons, for any or all of the 
following purposes: 

1. To create or carry out restrictions in trade or com- 
merce. 

2. To limit or reduce the production of a commodity. 

3. To increase or reduce the price of a commodity. 

4. To prevent competition in the manufacture or sale of 
a commodit}^. 

5. To enter into an agreement not to sell a commodity 
below a fixed value where such an agreement precludes 
free and unrestricted competition in the sale of the com- 
modity. 

Thus defined, the trust in Ohio is declared unlawful 
against public policy, and void. A violation of the anti^ 
trust law is a conspiracy against trade, and a person 
engaged in such conspiracy is liable to fine and imprison- 
ment. All together, more than thirty States have laws 
designed to control the trusts. 

The Trust Problem. But it cannot be said that the trusts 
have been brought under control. In spite of anti-trust 
laws and anti-trust agencies, combination still goes on, 
monopoly still thrives, and the trust problem is still un- 
solved. What solution is there for this difficult and per- 
plexing problem? When thirty years of effort to solve it 
has brought such small success, is there any hope that it can 
ever be solved? Must competition die and monopoly be 
allowed to gain the mastery in the business world ? 

These questions are cause for deep concern, but they need 
not cause despair. We can still rely upon the efficiency 
of government and law. The federal arm will always be 
strong enough to bring a corporation, however powerful 
it may be, to terms. And herein lies our hope; the law 
may always be kept supreme. We need not fear the trusts 
as long as we know they can be compelled to obey the law. 
Keep government strong enough to apply remedies, and 



CORPORATIONS 347 



PV 



remedies doubtless will in time be found. Indeed, the 
must be found if competition in business is to live. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Give an account of the part played by the corporation in 
modern life. 

2. From what source do corporations receive their power? 

3. Tell the story of the growth of trusts. 

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of trusts? 

5. What efforts have been made by the federal government to 
control the trusts? 

6. What efforts have been made by the States to control the 
trusts ? 

7. What can you say of the trust problem? 

Soggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Give illustrations of partnerships existing in this community; 
of corporations; of trusts. 

2. A local tinner charges 25 cents for a pan that you can buy 
from a trust for 23 cents: would you buy your pan from the local 
tinner or from the trust? 

3. What does the constitution of this State say about corpora- 
tions? about trusts? 

4. If it were shown that the trusts benefit society in material 
things, but dwarf individuality, what would be your attitude toward 
trusts? Does societj'' exist for your benefit, or do you exist for the 
benefit of society? 

5. Name five of the largest industrial organizations in the United 
States. What effect have these combinations had upon the prices of 
the articles they produce? 

6. Has this State passed an anti-trust law? If so, has this law 
accomplished its purpose? 

Topics foe Special Work 

1. The Organization of Business: Carver, 168-180. 

2. Confederations: Bullock, 155-159. 

3. Federal Control of Trusts: Kaye, 492-497. 

4. The Organization of Industry: Thompson, 85-97. 

5. Government and Production: Thompson, 183-193. 



/ 




XLIII 

CONSERVATION 



A most important service of our government is to conserve the 
natural resources of the nation. What are the principal resources 
that come within the scope of a conservation policy? To what ex- 
tent has our government engaged in conservation work? In what 
direction are the needs for conservation most pressing? 

Meaning of Conservation. Conservation, as the word is 
used here, has reference to natural resources, and relates 
to the efforts made by government to preserve these re- 
sources from loss, decay, injury, or violation. Conserva- 
tion does not mean, as is sometimes supposed, that the 
gifts of nature are to be securely locked up and withdrawn 
from use. (On the co ntra ry, tru^ con servation means the 
orderly development of the nation's"" resourc'es vnth t^e 
vigiy" of u^Ig' lllSIn freely. )" But they must be u"seB. in a 
way that wiH" bring the greatest benefits to the greatest 
number of people. No other country in the world is more 
bountifully supplied with natural resources than the United 
States. It has been the exploitation of natural resources 
that has put us in the front rank of nations. If we are 
to continue in the front rank we must conserve as well as 
exploit. 

Scope of Conservation. Of the things that come within 
the scope of a conservation policy, land is the most impor- 
tant, for the earth is the mother of us all. For that portion 
of the land held under private ownership efforts at conserva- 
tion must, for the most part, be made upon the initiative of 
the owners. But there are several hundreds of millions of 
acres held under public ownership. Over this vast national 

34S 



CONSERVATION ^H J 349 



<% 



domain g-overnment has a free liand to employ every means 
of conservation that will inure to the benefit of the public. 

Next to the land, the forest, perhaps, is the natural 
resource of greatest concern ; for the products of the forest 
are elemental necessities of civilized life. Here too there 
is an opportunity for the government to serve the people 
in a large way by applying the principles of conservation. 
For about one fourth of all the forest area in the United 
States is public property and is therefore under govern- 
ment control. 

Our water resources also offer golden opportunities for 
conservation. If all the streams that are under government 
control were fully utilized with the view of preventing 
waste, millions of acres of land that are now arid and use- 
less could be made to blossom as the rose, and many million 
horsepower of energy that is now dissipated and lost could 
be saved and set to work, turning wheels in factories and 
drawing trains. In carrying forward a conservation 
policy, therefore, the chief objects of the statesman's con- 
cern must be the land, the forests, and the water-courses. 

Conservation of the Soil. The productive power of the soil 
is the greatest asset of our nation. The government at 
"Washington recognizes this, and supports in a most gener- 
ous manner a Department of Agriculture, whose efforts are 
directed chiefly to the promotion of agricultural interests. 
The services of this great department, with its numerous 
bureaus and its thousands of trained workers, are indicated 
in brief outline in another chapter (p. 427). In all the 
varied activities of the Department of Agriculture the cen- 
tral purpose is always the same, viz., to increase the produc- 
tive power of the soil nnd at the same time to cause the 
principles of conservation to be applied. 

It would be difficult to overestimate the value of soil 
conser-vation ; for to conserve the soil is to conserve the 
food supply, and there is no task more important than that 
of caring for the food resources of a great and growing 



350 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

nation. This is a matter that heretofore has given Amer- 
icans little anxiety. We have had enough to eat and more, 
and have been prodigal of our food resources. But the 
time has come when we must conserve and increase by 
sound economical methods the productivity of the soil. 

Conservation through Reclamation. We must increase 
the area of our agricultural acreage. This can be done on 
a very extensive scale. For of the whole tillable area in 
the United States only about one third has been actually 
brought under cultivation. When, therefore, we shall have 
developed for agricultural purposes all the land that can 
profitably be utilized, our productive acreage will be three 
times as great as it is now. 

The extension of our agricultural acreage will be achieved 
largely through the reclamation of arid regions and of 
swamp-lands. In the western States there are awaiting de- 
velopment millions upon millions of acres of land that is 
naturally fertile and capable of producing a variety of 
crops, but that is worthless because rain never falls upon it. 
Yet this land can be reclaimed for the use of man. The 
waters in the mountain streams can be stored in reservoirs 
and used for irrigating the arid wastes. 

The governments of several of the States, and the federal 
government also, have availed themselves of this oppor- 
tunity for conservation. In a number of the States of the 
far West extensive projects for irrigation have been carried 
to completion and millions of acres of arid lands have been 
reclaimed. The federal government maintains a Reclama- 
tion Service, which does all the things that are necessary 
to be done for storing up the water and making it avail- 
able for irrigation purposes. The national reclamation 
policy has resulted in the annual production of crops worth 
more than $100,000,000 on lands that a short time ago pro- 
duced nothing. Moreover, the policy has resulted in the 
establishment of more than 200,000 people in prosperous 
and contented homes on farms, and an equal number in 



CONSERVATION 



351 



the cities, towns, and villages that have arisen within the 
regions of the irrigated areas. Yet the work of reclaim- 
ing the arid lands has only fairly begun. When all the 
waters available for irrigation shall have been conserved, 
it will be possible to use them for reclaiming enough arid 




MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS IN 

THE WEST 



lands to supply a population of perhaps fifteen or twenty 
million souls. 

The possibilities of conservation through the reclamation 
of swamp-lands are also very great. In the States of the 
Middle West and of the South there are more than 100,- 



352 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

000,000 acres of swampy and wet lands. If collected in 
one place these lands would have an area greater than the 
combined area of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. 

The swamp-lands, for the most part, do not come within 
the jurisdiction of the federal government. Their reclama- 
tion, therefore, is largely a matter of State concern. In 
many States laws have been enacted encouraging the drain- 
ing of swamp-lands. In Michigan drainage improvements 
costing many millions of dollars have been constructed. In 
the Southern States more than 7,000,000 acres of swamp- 
lands have been reclaimed. Yet, as in the case of arid 
regions, the work of reclaiming the wet lands has only be- 
gun. It is estimated that if the swamp-lands were all 
drained the portion available for cultivation would be suf- 
ficient to make 1,000,000 farms of 60 acres each. Here, 
then, a well executed policy of conservation would result in 
providing support for another fifteen or twenty million 
souls. 

Forest Conservation. Forest conservation is largely a 
matter of federal concern, although many States maintain 
governmental agencies for the protection of forests. 
Liberal provisions are made by Congress for the protection 
of our national forests and promoting their healthy devel- 
opment. For the development of the resources of these 
boundless stretches of woodland the Forest Service (a bu- 
reau in the Department of Agriculture) spends annually 
several millions of dollars and employs the services of 
several thousand forest workers. Its chief aim is to man- 
age the forest-lands in the way best suited to make them of 
the most use to the most people. Through its efforts, 
lumbermen are encouraged to settle in the forests in places 
where timber may be cut and sold at a profit. Trees that 
have attained their full growth are sold to any one who 
will pay a fair price. But only the trees marked by an 
official forester may be felled, it being a policy of forestry 
management that younger trees shall be left standing in 



CONSERVATION 853 

order that the forest-land shall not be denuded. A most 
useful service of the foresters is to protect the forests from 
fires, for fire is often more destructive than the ax. Scat- 
tered over the forest domain are rangers who act as fire- 
men, and who fight fires in the forest as promptly and as 
bravely as it is fought by trained firemen in cities. 

While the federal Forest Service has done and is doing 
much to conserve the forest resources, it has not solved, and 
will of itself not be able to solve, the problem of forest con- 
servation. For private owners hold more than three 
fourths of the timber supplies of the United States, and 
over private holdings the government has no control. But 
the situation is one that requires the firm hand of govern- 
ment. In the past we have exploited our forests in a 
shamefully wasteful and uneconomical manner, and the 
present rate of depletion of our forest resources is more 
than twice, probably three times what is actual^ being 
produced. So the forest problem is becoming acnte. 

''The situation," said the head of the Forest Service in 
his report for 1919, ''necessitates a broad policy of 
forestry for the whole nation, which w^ill include both an 
enlarged program of public acquisition of forests by the 
government, the States, and municipalities, and protection 
and perpetuation of forest growths in all privately owned 
lands- which may not better be used for agriculture and 
settlement. The government and the States must join 
hands in writing out a program that will bind into cor- 
relation the various public and private efforts for the pro- 
tection and right handling of the forests. ' ' 

Conservation of Water-Power. Attention has already 
been called to the importance of conserving the waters in 
the streams for purposes of irrigation. But these waters 
may also be conserved for the purpose of securing mechani- 
cal power. They may be stored up in reservoirs, and the 
power thus developed may be converted into electric cur- 
rents, which may be used to do almost any kind of mechani- 



354 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

cal work. On one of tlie railroads in the Northwest, trains 
for a distance of several hundred miles are drawn by elec- 
trical currents generated by the falling water of mountain 
streams. But, where there are hundreds of miles of rail- 
road thus electrified, there might easily be thousands. For 
the total amount of potential hydro-electric energy in the 
United States is estimated to be nearly 50,000,000 horse- 
power. In the State of Montana alone there is probably 
10,000,000 horsepower. If all the streams containing 
latent hydro-electric power were put to work, an annual 
saving of hundreds of millions of tons of coal could be 
effected. And it is for the saving of coal that the conserva- 
tion of water-power should be adopted as a policy of gov- 
ernment. For our coal resources are by no means in- 
exhaustible. Indeed, experts estimate that, at the present 
rate of consumption, taking into consideration the increase 
that will come with increased population, all our anthracite 
coal deposits and all our high-grade deposits of bituminous 
coal will be exhausted within a hundred years. 

The importance of conserving our vast supplies of hydro- 
electric energy is seen by our public men, and legislation 
providing for our water-power resources is being enacted. 
A bill recently passed by Congress — the Jones Bill — creates 
a water-power commission, to which is given authority over 
all matters coming within the federal jurisdiction pertaining 
to the development of water-power in the public domains 
and in the national forests. The object of the law is to pro- 
mote united action, together with economy of operation. 
The commission is granted authority to collect data concern- 
ing the utilization of the water-power resources of the na- 
tion, and it may issue to citizens of the United States, to 
corporations, to States, and to municipalities, licenses for 
operating hydro-electric plants, the licenses being given 
for a period of fifty years. The Jones Bill also encourages 
the building of headwater storage reservoirs to prevent- 
floods and obtain water for irrigation purposes after being 



CONSERVATION 355 

used for the generation of power. Thus a comprehensive 
policy of water-power development has been instituted by 
Congressional action. 

Some of the Practical Benefits of Conservation. It is to be 
hoped that the efforts of Congress in this direction will not 
be relaxed. For conservation is a serious problem and its 
solution should not be delayed. Already there has been too 
much procrastination and neglect. Only in recent years 
have our statesmen at Washington undertaken to guard our 
natural resources and conserve them for the use and benefit 
of the people. As late as 1907 a United States Senator 
could say : 

''Hitherto our national policy has been one of almost 
unrestricted disposal of natural resources, and this in more 
lavish measure than in any other nation in the world's his- 
tory; and this policy of the federal government has been 
shared by the constituent States. Three consequences 
have ensued: First, unprecedented consumption of nat- 
ural resources; second, exhaustion of these resources to 
the extent that a large part of our available public lands 
have passed into great estates or corporate interests, our 
forests are so far depleted as to multiply the cost of forest 
products, and our supplies of coal and iron ore so far re- 
duced as to enhance prices ; and, third, unequaled oppor- 
tunity for p^rivate monopoly." 

From this description of our prodigality it would seem 
that to talk now of conservation is like talking of locking 
the stable door after the horse is stolen. But the case is 
not so bad as that. As we have learned, the natural re- 
sources still in the possession of the government have a 
value almost beyond computation, and if a firm policy of 
conservation is adopted and carried forward in earnest, 
this heritage in lands, forests, minerals, and water-power 
may be so administered that it shall be a source of good to 
all the people. And what practical benefits would arise 



356 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

from a wise, fearless, and thorougli-gomg policy of con- 
servation ? As a partial answer — and only partial, for the 
subject is vast — the benefits would be as follows: 

(1) Our public lands, instead of being taken up in im- 
mense tracts by corporations or by rich individuals, would 
be parceled out in little farms and given to millions of small 
freeholders, the class of people that has always formed the 
backbone of the American nation. 

(2) Land already under cultivation would be protected 
from the injury caused by soil erosion and wou,ld be made 
more productive through scientific methods of agriculture. 

(3) The tillable acreage would be enormously increased 
by the reclamation of arid and swampy lands. 

(4) The food supply would be greatly increased and 
the cost of living reduced. 

(5) Waterways would be developed for navigation with 
results beneficial to transportation. 

(6) Water-power would be utilized on a scale that would 
result in saving countless millions of tons of coal. 

(7) The national forests would be so managed that 
they would not only assist in the conservation of the soil 
and of water-power, but would also supply us with lumber 
in larger and cheaper quantities, and thus assist in the solu- 
tion of the housing problem. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Define "conservation" as the word is here used. 

2. What are the principal natural resources that come within the 
scope of a conservation policy? 

3. What are the two underlying purposes of the federal Depart- 
ment of Agriculture? 

4. In what two ways may the areas of our farm-lands be ex- 
tended through reclamation? Give an account of the activities of 
the Reclamation Service. 

5. What efforts are made to conserve our national forests? 

6. What are the possibilities of conservation as related to water- 
power ? 

7. Name some of the benefits that would flow from a compre- 
hensive policy of conservation. 



CONSERVATION 357 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. What efforts at conservation have been made in this State? 

2. What departments of your State government are engaged in 
conservation work? Tell the principal achievements of each de- 
partment thus engaged. 

3. What are the chief national resources of this State? Are any 
of them going to waste? 

4. President Roosevelt once said: "To allow the public lands to 
be worked by the tenants of rich men for the profits of the land- 
lords, instead of by freeholders for the livelihood of their wives and 
children, is little less than a crime against our people and our in- 
stitutions." Are the lands in this State generally worked by the 
men who own them? Are there in this State any great tracts of 
land owned by corporations? 

5. Point out the dangers of "absentee landlordism." 

6. What railroads have received immense grants of the public 
land? 

7. What opportunities are there in this State for the develop- 
ment of hydro-electric energy? 

8. To what extent is profitable irrigation possible in this State? 

9. What is the area of the swamp-lands of this State? To what 
extent has there been a reclamation of swamp-lands in this State? 

10. Name some benefits of conservation in addition to those 
enumerated in the text. 

Topics for Special Work 

1. Natural Resources as State Property: Reinsch, 265-271. 

2. Conservatism in New York: Reinsch, 271-283, 

3: Establishment of the Secretaryship of Agriculture: Learned, 
292-342. 

4. Land: . Thompson, 114-129. 

5. National Resources: Beard, 401^416. 



XLIV 
ELECTIONS 

In a democracy there is no task of government that lequires a 
more faithful and honest performance than the holding of elections, 
for it is through the election that the people express their will. On 
election day, therefore, popular government is really on trial. In 
this chapter let us acquire some sound ideas about this indispens- 
able and all-important service of a representative government — the 
holding of elections. 

Usefulness of Frequent Elections. Under a representative 
government the election is the all-important institution ; all 
that is good and all that is bad in our political life flows 
through the ballot-box. To be present at the polls on elec- 
tion day, if possible, is the first duty of citizenship. We 
hear people complain of the frequency of elections. They 
tire of politics and grudge the time it takes to vote, and 
they wish officers were elected for longer terms so that elec- 
tion day would not come around so soon. Such people ad- 
vance a most dangerous doctrine. If elections occurred 
only at long intervals, the people, absorbed in their private 
affairs, would gradually come to know and think and care 
less and less about their government, and they would grow 
more and more willing that responsibility for its manage- 
ment should pass out of their hands. This would be the 
straight road to despotism. Frequent elections, on the 
other hand, keep the minds of the voters fixed upon their 
officials and upon the doings of government, and in this 
way citizenship is kept vigilant and strong. It is politi- 
cally wholesome to vote at least once a year. ' ' Where an- 
nual elections end," said Samuel Adams, "tyranny be- 
gins." A long interval between elections would doubt- 
less mean the decay of representative government. 

358 






SELECTIONS \ 359 

Elections Conducted by State Authority. We have learned 
that the right of suffrage and the qualifications of voters 
are determined largely by State authority (p. 12). The 
holding of elections is also almost entirely an affair of the 
State. The only instance of the power of the federal gov- 
ernment to participate in the management of elections is 
seen in the right of Congress to make regulations concern- 
ing the elections held for choosing Representatives (24). 
Under this clause of the Constitution Congress could doubt- 
less provide for an almost complete control of the election 
of Representatives, but it has refrained from using its 
power to the fullest extent. It has been content merely 
to appoint a day on which the elections of Representatives 
shall be held, to limit the campaign expenditures of fed- 
eral candidates, and to require the division of the States 
into Congressional districts, leaving all other matters to the 
State. 

Registration. The real work of preparation for election 
day is accomplished by the voluntary action of political 
parties. One step in the work of preparation, however, is 
taken under the direction of government. This is the 
registration of voters. 

All the States but two provide for a system of registra- 
tion, by which the qualifications of those who wish to vote 
are ascertained several weeks before election day. When 
a person who has been duly registered presents himself at 
the polls as a voter, the election officials, with the registra- 
tion book before them, have little trouble in satisfying them- 
selves of his right to vote. 

The Casting and Counting of the Ballots. In nearly every 
State the first Tuesday after the first Monday in Novem- 
ber is general election day. On this day the voters repair 
to the polls, to elect whatever officers are to be elected, and 
to vote upon any questions that may be referred to the 
people. For convenience, counties and cities are sub- 



360 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

divided into election districts or precincts, a precinct usu- 
ally containing several hundred voters. The election is 
conducted by the election officers of the district, judges 
(moderators), and clerks, who are either elected by popu- 
lar vote, or are appointed by a duly constituted authority, 

The voting goes on during the hours of daylight, and in 
most of the States is conducted according to the Australian 
system'. The voter enters a little booth and prepares his 
ballot while alone.^ He makes a cross mark opposite each 
of the names of the candidates for whom he wishes to vote, 
folds his ballot in such a way that no one can see how he 
has voted, and, coming out from the booth, hands the ballot 
to an election officer, who, in the presence of the other 
officers, and in the presence of the voter, drops it into the 
ballot-box. Thus the voter, if he desires to do so, can ca^t 
his ballot in perfect secrecy. In many States a voter who 
is unavoidably absent from his voting precinct on election 
day is permitted to send his vote by mail and have it law- 
fully counted. 

The counting of the votes begins in the evening, imme- 
diately after the polls are closed. The results of the elec- 
tion in the several precincts are sent to certain county (or 
city) officers, who determine the results of the vote in the 
entire county and issue certificates of election to the suc- 
cessful candidates. When State officers, or congressmen, 
or circuit judges, or presidential electors are voted for, 
county authorities send the results of the vote in the several 
counties to State officers, who determine the general result 
and issue certificates to the successful candidates. 

Protecting the Ballot-Box from Corrupt Practices. In the 

polling-booth the people either justify their right to rule 
or they stamp democracy as a failure. For this reason 
the election should be the purest of political institutions. 
Election officers should be men of the highest character, and 

1 In several States voting machines have made their appearance and are us&d 
to a limited extent. 



f^rnt. If vrtH rtesire to vote ft atraigtit piirty tlcbut, ft'atco a croiw X nmtk in tha circle on itie tlctet y>m MiaHl^ 
rote lUifi iiowlioro clso on ihc ballot. •* 

Scrniiil. If you prefer not to vote i» straight piirty tickcft, but wish co voto for a in4jofity of tho candidate* on «ny 
|iartj- ticket, i\iiifco a cross X mark in the circle as before, and tlicn make a cross X niark in thti s<{uaro to tho right of 
tho nainos of such other candidates as you wish to vote for, found under any other p:irty name. 

Third. If yon prefer not to vote any party ticket, then make the cross X uiurk in the sqoaru to the right of the 
names of sBch c.indidates as you wish to vote for and nowhere else on the ballot. 

Fowllf If )-ou desire to vote for a name not on the ballot, write the name in the blank column and make a 
cross X mark in the square to the right of such name. 

If you tear, deface or wrongly mark this ballot, return it to the judges and receive another. 



I desire to vote a straiglit 
(Icpublicnn ticket, as shown 
by the cross X mark in the 
circle tliereon, except as 
otherwise indicated by the 
cross X mark opposite tlie 
names of other candidates 
elsewhere on the ballot 

CO ' 


I desire to vote a straight 
Democratic ticket, as shown 
by the cross X mark in the 
circle thereon, except as 
Otherwise indicated by the 
cross X mark opposite the 
names of other candidates 
elsewhere on the ballot. 


X dreiK to vote a straight 
SoCrUist ticket, as shown 
by the cross X.mark' in the 
circle thereon, except aa 
otherwise indicated by th« 
cross X mark opposite the 
names of other candidates 
elsewhere on the ballot 

o 




REPUBLICAN TICKtT. 


KMaCHATIC TUniET. 


s?^mLisT Ticiiir. 


OLMJti COLUMiy. 


For PrMideot. 
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 

For VlM-preaideot. 
CHARLES W. FAlRBANKa 


For Pnaktenl, 
ALTON B. PARKEa 

For Vloe-prwidant, 
HENRY OA8SAWAY DAVIS. 


For Praaldant. 
EUQENE.V. DEBS. 
For VIce-praddaot. 
BENJ. HANFORD. 


For Prftildnit, 
Foe \lce-preeidon». 


For Preiidentld Electors. 


For PraaidaDtial EljMlton, 


For Prtwldeiitlal Elwuirs 


For Presidential Elcctora, 


{And continuing in tike manner aa to 
all eandidateu on national ticket.) 


( And oontinutng in Ukemanner as to 
alt oandidatea on national tiokrt.) 


{4^d aontinuinff in like muiin^aato 
alt aandidate» on national Uolet) 


(And continuing in like manner willt 
nattonnl ticket.) 


PTATE TICKET. 


BTATZ TIOKET. 


8TATE TICKET 


STATE TICKET. 


For Juiticee of Suprema Court 

for a term of six yean, ' 1 1 
WILLIAM B. SMITH. L—l 


For JiutioM at Supreme Court _ 
for a tem a< aii yeara. 1 
STEPHEN B. ALLEN. L_ 


For Jufltioee of Supreme Coun ^„^^ 
tor a term of six yeara, 1 
G. C. CLEME-NS. 1 


For Juatioea of Supreme Court, ^._ 
for a term of eix year*. 1 1 


For QoverDor, 1 1 
EDWARD W. HOGH. l_J 


ForOorariior, | 

DAVtD U. DALE. 1 


For Governor, 1 
GRANVILLE LOWTHEK. L_ 


For Ooremor, r~| 


For Li«ut«DaDt-govorQOr, 1 1 
DAVID J. HANNA. I J 


For Llcotaum-itorflroor, 1 
JOBJJ & PAKKS. L_ 


For Lieutao&Dt-^venior, 1 
A. BOESSLER. l_ 


For LieutAoantgoreroor, 1 1 


(ilnd oontlnuinff in like mannet a* to 
att onndidatei on atate tiok9t.\ 


{And continitlnoln tike mfiuneraeto 


{Andeontinuirff in likr. manneran to 
att candidate, on ttate tiohet.) 


(Andconttnuing in likf manuirmIS 
ttate tiolet.i 


For QooirMimaD, etb Diitrlot, r~| 
W. A. BEEDER. LJ 


For Congraomaa. <itb Dktriot, 1 1 
U. a OAHTER. 1 


For CoDgieaaman, 6th Dlslrlol, 1 

W. F. LINTON. 1 




-Foi (koator, 33d Dirtriot. T~~\ 
1. D. YOUN(X LJ 


For Baoator, SS' 1 Ulatriot, 1 1 
UBNBY R IIONKV. 1 1 


For Senator, 33d DIatriol, 

No Nomination. 


For Sooator. 33a DiatricI, f""] 


COUNIY TICKET. 


COUNTY TICKET. 


COUNTY TICKET. 


COUNTY TICKET. 


ForB«prMimtaU«,88lbnUl., 1 1 

A. 0. MEAD. 1 1 


For RepraatBtatlre. 88th Dlat, [""1 
OEOROB B. Mc'KINNIE. 1 1 


For Rapreaentallre, 8Sth Diat., T~~ 
THOMAS HILL. I 


For RepraaonUtlTO. 88U> DlJt,. j~~j 


For CooDtj Truauror f"" 
RENRV VAN TILBORO. L_ 


For County Traaaurar. 1 1 
F. & OUKTIS. 1 1 


For County TreBaurer, 1 
0. E. COUB8EN. |_ 


■Tor County TraHUiar, l~~| 


{4nd oontinutng in like manner ae to 
1. all «andii<a(» on couqiy iicktt.\ 


< A nd oontinuinffi" likr manner a* to 
att onndtdatto vt rnmntf tlcket.t 


t And oontinuinff in like intinner ae to 
att candidatee on oouuly fioktt^i 


( And ooriKduIn ; in like manntr wi(4 
MMAgUolUH 



A SAMPLE BALLOT FOR A GENERAL ELECTION 



■X'^P 



i 



V 






ELECTIONS 361 

election laws should be the embodiment of justice and fair- 
ness. Corrupt practices at elections should be punished 
with the greatest severity, for a fraud upon the ballot- 
box is treason to democracy and should incur a penalty 
suitable to so great a crime. 

In almost every State there are laws for preventing cor- 
rupt practices at elections. A corrupt practice em- 
braces illegal voting, or any act that, in practice or design, 
tends to hinder or improperly influence an elector in the 
exercise of his right of franchise, so that his judgment is 
perverted and he fails to cast his vote in accordance with 
his desires. Among the practices designed as corrupt is 
illegal voting. Nearly all the States punish those who 
register or vote when they are not qualified electors, or 
who vote more than once, or who vote under an assumed 
name. 

Another corrupt practice is intimidation. In most of the 
States it is illegal to attempt to control the vote of an 
elector or to prevent its being cast. Many States attempt 
to prevent employers from controlling the votes of their 
employees. Thus, in Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, and 
Washington, it is a penitentiary offense for an employer to 
intimidate his employees in such a manner as to prevent 
them from voting in accordance with their real inclina- 
tions. Then, too, it is a corrupt practice to expend money 
during a campaign in a lavish and improper manner. 

In some of the States the law specifies what expenditures 
are legal and what are illegal. Legal expenditures con- 
sist, in general, in the personal traveling and hotel ex- 
penses of the candidate, and in the expenses of printing, 
advertising, telegraphing, and the like. Illegal expendi- 
tures are such as relate to bribery, the treating and enter- 
taining of electors, and betting upon the result of elections. 
In order to secure publicity, candidates are in many States 
required to make public an itemized statement of the amount 
of money spent for election purposes. If more has been 
spent than is permissible by law, the candidate is liable to a 



362 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

fine and imprisonment. Candidates for election to either of 
the branches of Congress are required to make statements 
showing the amount of money they received for election 
purposes during their campaign, and also the amount of 
their disbursements. In the case of a member of the House 
of Representatives the expenses must not be more than $5,- 
000 ; in the case of a Senator they must not be more than 
$10,000. . 

Bribery. The most persistent and dangerous enemy of 
honest elections is the bribe-giver. Bribery is as old as 
selfishness and ambition. Because the sons of Samuel took 
bribes (b. c. 1,100) ancient Israel was hurried into mon- 
archy. Pretorian guards of Rome, seduced by gold, raised 
a usurper to the imperial throne (193 a. d.), and at once 
the glory of the greatest empire the world has seen began 
to grow less. In England bribery increased with the 
growth of representative government, and in Shakespere's 
time it was causing the hands of Englishmen "to shrink 
up like withered shrubs." Parliament enacted laws 
against bribery at an early date, but the laws were out- 
witted. Homely verses written two hundred years ago de- 
clare the truth, that mere legislation will not prevent 
bribery : 

The Laws against Bribery provision may make, 
Yet means will be found both to give and to take; 
While charms are in flattery, and power in gold. 
Men will be corrupt and Liberty sold. 

In America, as in England, bribery has been fought in 
all the ways known to law-makers. In some States penal- 
ties against bribery are stated in the constitution ; in others 
stringent acts for the prevention of corrupt practices at 
elections have been enacted. In all the States bribery is 
punishable as a crime, and in a few States the bribe-giver 
is made equally criminal with the bribe-taker. A civil of- 
ficer of the United States convicted of bribery is removed 
from office (104). 



ELECTIONS 363 

Besides the opposition that government has directed 
against it, bribery is the object of much moral crusading. 
Anti-bribery societies exist for the purpose of prosecuting 
and convicting bribe-givers and bribe-takers; candidates 
offer themselves for election on anti-bribery platforms ; the 
pulpit denounces bribery as bitterly as it was denounced 
by the prophets of old; the press exposes bribery and 
heaps scorn upon the guilty. 

The fact that bribery thrives here and there in spite 
of law and public sentiment should not discourage the op- 
ponents of the evil. Bribery, like some other kinds of 
crime, is an ever-present foe, and the fight against it must 
go on and on. We must not make the mistake of thinking 
that legislation and denunciation and opposition are of 
no use, for they are of the greatest use. If it were not 
for anti-bribery laws and anti-bribery movements, if it 
were not for the ceaseless fight against bribery, the elec- 
torate would suffer an undermining at the hands of the 
bribe-giver that would doubtless lead to our downfall. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Why should the practice of holding elections at short intervals 
be continued? 

2. Under what authority are elections held? To what extent 
does the federal government have authority over elections? 

3. What are the purposes of registration? 

4. Describe the usual method of casting and counting votes. 

5. Name some of the things that are dealt with by the corrupt 
practices acts. 

6. What can you say of the persistence of bribery in the history 
of politics? How does government deal with bribery? Why should 
the fight against bribery be continued? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. What does the constitution of this State say about elections? 
What does it say about bribery? 

2. Should candidates for public office be compelled to give an ac- 
count of their election expenses? 

3. How much better is the bribe-taker than the bribe-giver? 

4. Bring into the class for examination a ballot used at a re- 
cent election. 



364 THE AMERICAN DEMOCBACY 

5. Name something that you as an individual can do to assist in 
preventing bribery. 

6. What are the regulations in this State in reference to regis- 
tration ? 

7. The Short Ballot. Many reformers urge the adoption of the 
"short ballot" at elections. Where the "short ballot" prevails, only 
the most important offices are made elective, and only very few 
offices are filled by election at one time. The purpose of the "short 
ballot" is to enable the A^oter to examine his ticket and make an in- 
telligent choice of candidates. What are the merits of the "short bal- 
lot" ? 

8. In one of the States the person receiving a bribe is subjected 
to a penalty, but the one giving the bribe is specifically exempt 
from any punishment whatever. Is this a good way to fight bribery? 

9. Give the dates for the holding of elections in this State. 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Short Ballot: Reinsch, 372-382; Jones, 225-232. 

2. Campaign Expenditures and Publicity: Jones 314-319. 

3. The Conduct of Elections: Holcombe', 205-239. 

4. Bribery Laws: Reinsch, 428-432. 

5. A Corrupt Practices Act: Kaye, 513-518. 




XLY 
EDUCATION 

In all enliglitened countries governments have found it wise 
either to supervise more or less closely or to control altogether the 
education of vouth. So generally is this true that education has 
come to be regarded as a normal function of government. Wliat 
place does public education hold in the life of the American people? 
By what governmental agencies are the schools controlled? How 
are they supported? In what direction is there need for educational 
reform ? 

Democracy and the Public School System. The growth 
of popular education in the United States has been coinci- 
dent with the gro^wth of democracy. During the colonial 
period, in several of the colonies encouragement and aid 
were given to public schools, but the masses of children were 
not reached. It was not until the people began to come for- 
ward as the real masters of government that provision 
was made for the education of all the children of a com- 
munity. As democracy grew stronger public schools be- 
came more numerous, and at last it became the policy of 
every State to furnish free of charge an elementary edu- 
cation to every child within its borders. The movement 
for the education of the masses has met with astonishing 
success. There are to-day in the public schools of this land 
more than twenty millions of children preparing for the 
duties of citizenship under the guidance of more than three 
fourths of a million of teachers, at an annual expense of 
more than a billion of dollars. 

Public Education Controlled by the State. Nothing is 
said in the Constitution about education. The States re- 
served to themselves the management of their schools. In 

365 



366 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the constitution of each State provision is made for a pub- 
lic-school system. This provision is usually made in the 
broadest terms. The constitution of Massachusetts, 
adopted in 1780, declared that "wisdom and knowledge as 
well as virtue, diffused generallj^ among the body of the 
people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights 
and liberties, and as these depend upon the opportunities 
and advantages of education, ... it shall be the duty of 
the legislature and magistrates in all future periods of this 
commonwealth to cherish the interests of literature and the 
sciences and all the seminaries of them; especially the 
University of Cambridge, public schools and grammar 
schools in the towns." Upon this broad constitutional 
foundation a magnificent and elaborate public-school sys- 
tem was slowly reared. The more recent constitutions are 
occasionally somewhat specific in reference to education, 
yet as a rule their language is broad and general, like that 
of the constitution of Massachusetts. It is a settled policy 
to leave the details of education to the legislature. 

Education a Local Affair. As it has been the custom of 
constitutions to leave the details of educational policy to 
the legislature, so it has been the custom of the legislature 
to leave the details of school management to the local gov- 
ernment. The legislature usually passes a general school 
law which provides for the election or appointment of cer- 
tain school officers, and states in general terms the powers 
and duties of these officers. The State law may further 
prescribe the qualifications of teachers, and specify the 
manner in which text-books shall be furnished to pupils, the 
branches that shall be taught, the limits of the tax that may 
be levied for school purposes, and the ages between which 
children must attend school ; for in most of the States edu- 
cation is compulsory. Further than this the legislatures 
usually do not choose to go in their control of the schools; 
they are content to leave many things to be attended to 
by the local authority. 



EDUCATION 367 

In most of the States school management is a separate 
and distinct branch of public sendee. School officers are 
independent of other public officers, school elections are held 
on special days, school taxes are levied and collected dis- 
tinct from other taxes. This is not always the case, but. 
speaking generally, school government is decentralized and 
local. Each community is permitted to manage its schools 
pretty much in its own way. 

The School District. The school systems of no two States 
are precisely alike, and even within the same State there 
are sometimes several plans of school government in opera- 
tion. Ever^-where, however, there is a unit of school gov- 
ernment, which we may conveniently designate as the 
school district. This district may be a small rural area, 
within which there is but one school-house and one teacher ; 
it may be a township with several schools ; it may be a city 
with numerous schools. In each district there is a govern- 
ing body known by ditferent names in diiferent States, but 
most frequently called the school board. 

The local board usually has large powers of control. It 
appoints teachers, locates and erects school buildings, makes 
rules for the giiidance of teachers and pupils, selects the 
text-books, and sometimes prescribes a course of study. 
In many States the officers of the district fix the rate of 
taxation that is levied for school purposes. In the exer- 
cise of these important functions they are limited and re- 
strained at certain points by State law, but very frequenth" 
these limitations and restraints do not bear heavily upon 
them. 

School Supervision. In addition to the regular teaching 
force, there is maintained an elaborate system of super- 
intendence. In the count}^ there is the county superin- 
tendent (p. 185) ; in the city, the city superintendent; in 
the State, the officer usually known as the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction (p. 166). The powers of the county 



368 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

superintendent and of the State Superintendent are, for 
the most part, chiefly of an advisory nature, although in 
some cases the county superintendent and the State super- 
intendent are clothed with some substantial powers of con- 
trol. In the case of the town or city superintendent, 
school superintendence means a control that is quite close 
and complete. When a town or a city has its own super- 
intendent, the supervision of the county superintendent 
does not, as a rule, extend to the schools of the town or city. 
The spirit of local self-government, which is so strong when 
manifesting itself in school matters, makes it difficult for 
the superintendent from the outside to exercise real power 
within the district. 

Common Schools, High Schools, Universities, and Nor- 
mal Schools. The State first provides for a system of com- 
mon schools, in which the fundamental branches may be 
taught. The curriculum of these schools includes reading, 
spelling, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, and his- 
tory. Above the common schools there is in every State 
a system of high schools, in which pupils may receive in- 
struction in the natural sciences, in literature, history, and 
civics, in the higher mathematics, and in the ancient and 
modern languages. To crown its educational system the 
State frequently maintains a universUy which its youth 
may attend without charges for tuition. To provide a sup- 
ply of competent teachers for its common schools the State 
usually supports one or more normal schools. In Penn- 
sylvania there are thirteen State normal schools. 

Educational Activities of the Federal Government. In the 

Constitution of the United States not a word is said about 
education. This silence, however, has not prevented the 
government at AVashington from engaging in a number of 
educational activities. Under its power to provide for an 
efficient army and navy (57) the federal government sup- 
ports and controls two great training schools, the Military 



EDUCATION 369 

Academy at West Point and the Naval Academy at An- 
napolis. In addition to these, it maintains at Washington 
an Army War College for advanced military students, and 
at Newport, Rhode Island, a Naval War College for ad- 
vanced naval students. It also supports the Indian schools 
and maintains a supervision over the educational systems 
of our insular possessions. 

Although the federal government has little to do with the 
actual administration of schools it nevertheless does much 
in an indirect way to promote educational interests 
throughout the country. For a great many years money 
has been taken from the national treasury for the sup- 
port of first one and then another form of education. Con- 
gress has encouraged higher education in the State by 
generous grants of the public lands. It has been estimated 
that more than twenty millions of acres of federal public 
lands have been devoted to State colleges of agriculture and 
the mechanic arts. The total annual appropriations made 
by Congress for the support of agricultural, mechanical, 
and vocational education exceed $6,000,000. 

The most extensive educational interests of the federal 
government, outside of military training, lies in the direc- 
tion of vocational education. In 1917 Congress enacted a 
law — the Smith-Hughes Act— providing for the promotion 
of vocational education, and the cooperation of the federal 
government with the States in the preparation of teachers 
in vocational subjects, the money appropriated by this act 
to be used in paying the salaries of teachers of agricultural 
subjects and of home economic subjects. The appropria- 
tions for carrying out the law rise annually until 1926, 
when the sum of $4,000,000 will be available. Every sum 
of money contributed by the federal government must be 
matched by an equal amount contributed by the State. 
The execution of the law is given to a Federal Board for 
Vocational Education, consisting of the Secretaries of 
Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, and three other per- 
sons appointed by the President. The Federal Board co- 




370 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

operates in each State under some State agency of pub- 
lic education. This Board is also charged with the vo- 
cational training and the rehabilitation of men disabled in 
the military- or naval forces, after their discharge from 
military service. 

The chief educational officer of the federal government 
is the Commissioner of Education, who has charge of the 
Bureau of Education, a subdivision of the Department of 
the Interior. Owing to the fact that the educational func- 
tion is a State affair, the duties of the national Commis- 
sioner of Education are confined almost entirely to the col- 
lection and publication of educational statistics and to the 
dissemination of educational literature. This federal 
bureau, however, has charge of the education of the natives 
of Alaska. 

Educational Reform. The American public-school system 
is one of which any nation might well be proud, for our 
schools beyond doubt are among the very best in the world. 
Yet there is room for improvement. Indeed, in two direc- 
tions at least there is a pressing need for reform. In the 
first place, our schools are not reaching all children of 
school age. In many communities — and they are not con- 
fined to one section of the country — illiteracy is rampant. 
Millions of children have been allowed to grow up with- 
out even having leaiTied how to read, with the result that 
we have in our midst millions of men and women who have 
no means of access to the thought and impulses of our 
country, and who are poor workers and poorer citizens be- 
cause of their ignorance, a menace to themselves and their 
neighbors. 

In the second place, our schools are suffering because the 
salaries of teachers afe too low. The service rendered by 
the teacher is of the highest social value, and the qualifica- 
tions required for teaching can be met only by well trained, 
educated men and -^omen. Yet the compensation of 
teachers is often smaller than that received by unskilled, 



>^* 



EDUCATION (3;U..t 

uneducated workers. As the result of low salaries, 
teachers by the hundreds of thousands have recently left 
their desks to take positions where the pay is better. In 
a vast majority of cases the vacancies were filled, of course, 
by teachers whose qualifications were not up to the mark. 
In truth, in thousands of cases the vacancies were not filled 
at all, because the salaries offered failed to attract teachers 
of any kind, good or bad. Thus the effect of low salaries 
was not only to lower the tone of the school but actually to 
close the doors of school-houses. 

There should be no delay in remedying these two evils. 
Illiteracy should be promptly stamped out. For school- 
houses in America are as important as armies and navies. 
In a democracy the very life of the nation is dependent 
upon the intelligence of the masses. And those who train 
the young for a virtuous and intelligent citizenship should 
be well paid. Otherwise the schools will fall into the 
hands of bunglers and the nation will suffer irreparable 
loss. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Trace the growth of popular education in the United States. 

2. Where is the authority for public education located? How 
do State constitutions usually treat the subject of education? 

3. What is the attitude of the legislature toward the manage- 
ment of the schools? To what extent does the legislature control 
the schools? 

4. Tell what you can about the school district. What are the 
powers of the school officers of this district? 

5. Name the several supervising officers of a school system. 
When does the superintendent really control in school affairs? 

6. Give an account of the manner in which public schools are 
supported. 

7. Describe each of the several grades of schools supported at 
the public expense. 

8. Give an account of the educational activities of the federal 
government. What are the duties of the United States Commis- 
sioner of Education? 

9. In what two directions is there need for educational reform? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Does the constitution of this State provide for free schools? 
Does it specify in reference to taxation for the support of schools? 



372 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

in reference to the length of the school term? in reference to the 
subjects to be taught? in reference to the age of children who may 
attend ? 

2. Are children in this State compelled by law to attend school? 
If so, state whether the law is effective or not. If there is no 
compulsory law, state the reasons for and against the enactment 
of such a law. 

3. Is a State school tax levied in this State? If so, how much 
revenue does it yield? Hoav much per pupil is expended on educa- 
tion in this State? Compare this with the amount expended in ad- 
joining States. 

4. What is the governing body of this school district called? 
How is it chosen? What are the names of its members? Make out 
a list of its powers. 

5. Bound this school district. How many pupils are within it? 
How much money is expended for education within this district? 
How much is this per pupil? Is this above or below the average 
in this State? Do the people of the district elect the school officers? 
Do they contribute the greater part of the taxes that go to the sup- 
port of the schools? 

6. What does the school do for you as an individual ? What does 
it do for society? What does it do for government? 

7. Make out a list of the duties that pupils owe to a school; a 
list of the duties that the school officers owe to the school. 

8. (In some schools the faculty makes the rules, decides who has 
broken a rule, and punishes the offender. In other schools the stu- 
dents organize as a commonwealth, electing from their number ( 1 ) 
a council^ which makes the rules, (2) a court, which decides when a 
pupil has violated a rule, and (3) a governor, who executes the order 
of the court. In these schools government resembles a democracy.) 
Draw up a constitution for the government of a school by its 
students, providing for the three departments, the election of officers 
and the distribution of powers. Should the terms of the student 
officers be for short or for long periods? What rules would be wise 
for the council to make in reference to tardiness? to whispering? 
to absence ? to truancy ? to cheating ? to rudeness ? 

9. What advantages does a school derive from governing itself? 
10, Does government in the school prepare for citizenship out- 
side of the school? 

Topics foe Special Woek 

1. The Educational Lessons of the Hour: Cleveland and Schafer, 

212-243. 

2. Higher Education: Zueblin, 211-227. 

3. The Government of State Universities: Reinsch, 331-336. 

4. Education and Social Progress: EUwood, 371-387. 

5. Public Education: Gettell, 518-519. 



XLVI 
LABOR 

From time immemorial, the affairs of workingmen were a sub- 
ject of governmental concern. With the growth of the factory sys- 
tem and the advance of the trade-union movement this concern 
grew deeper, and to-day one of the most important functions of 
government is to solve problems that arise in the world of labor. 
In this chapter we shall consider some of the problems that have 
arisen in cohnection with labor organizations. We shall begin the 
subject by taking a glance at the growth of the trade-union move- 
ment. 

Growth of Labor Organizations. Workingmen 's associa- 
tions or trade unions, such as we have to-day, had no 
existence before the latter part of the eighteenth century. 
In the days when industry was in its simple form of organi- 
zation, when almost every workman was a proprietor, there 
were few who could be classed as employees. A German 
scholar ^ informs us that in 1784 in the duchy of Magde- 
burg there were 27,050 independent masters and only 4,- 
285 assistants and apprentices, and that about the same 
time in the principality of Wiirzburg there were 13,762 
masters with 2,176 assistants and apprentices. That is to 
say, in more than five sixths of the industrial establish- 
ments of these two places the master carried on his work 
single-handed. As it was in Germany, so it was in Eng- 
land and America before the industrial revolution: the 
number of employees was extremely small. When it is 
remembered that apprentices and assistants usually lived 
in the home of the master and were treated as members of 
the family, it becomes still more apparent that under the 
old order of things there was no distinct line of cleavage 
between employers as a class and employees as a class. 

1 Karl Biicher, Industrial Evolution, p. 188. 

373 



374 THE AMERICAN" DEMOCRACY 

The factory system bronglit about a complete change in 
the industrial condition of the workman. A craftsman 
was now the owner neither of the tools with which he 
worked nor of the articles which his craft fashioned ; he was 
a hired man, an employee whose chief industrial interest 
was his wage. It was to be expected that employees would 
unite to advance their interests, and it was not long before 
workmen began to meet for the discussion of such subjects 
as wages and hours of labor. At first government handled 
these meetings with a severe hand. In 1799 the English 
Parliament passed a law making it a criminal offense to 
attend a meeting the purpose of which was to secure an 
advance in wages or to shorten the hours of labor. In 1817 
under this act ten calico-printers in the town of Bolton 
were imprisoned for three months for simply intending 
to attend a meeting at which the subject of wages was to 
be discussed. Such injustice, however, was inconsistent 
with the spirit of democracy which was at that time begin- 
ning to guide the conduct of statesmen, and in 1824 the 
harsh law of 1799 was repealed, and working men were 
thenceforth permitted to combine for the promotion of their 
interests. 

Workingmen now began to combine, not only for the pur- 
pose of putting up wages and shortening the working day, 
but for the advancement of all their interests. Those en- 
gaged in the same trade, or allied trades, united in a per- 
manent association, called a trade union, the abiding pur- 
pose of which was to promote in every lawful way the gen- 
eral welfare of the associated members. Trade unions in 
England at first did not have smooth sailing, for rulers 
were at heart against them; but they steadily prospered, 
and in 1871 were formally recognized by an act of Parlia- 
ment as legal organizations. This recognition caused them 
to flourish as never before, and to-day England is one of 
the strongest centers of trade unionism in the world. 

The trade-union movement in America began about the 
same time it began in England, but it did not meet the 



LABOR 375 

same fierce opposition. Its progress, however, was not al- 
together peaceful and undisputed. For many years the 
courts were inclined to regard the movement with distrust, 
and in more than one decision a combination that aimed to 
raise wages was pronounced to be an unlawful conspiracy. 
But trade unions were only one of the outgrowths of democ- 
racy and were bound to wax strong with the growing 
strength of the people. In 1870 New York, by statute, 
legalized the trade union, and in recent years the right of 
workingmen to combine has not been seriously questioned 
anyivhere in the United States. In America, law and pub- 
lic opinion have been almost uniformly on the side of the 
trade union, and its growth here has been remarkable. 
More than five million workingmen in the United States 
are enrolled in trade unions. 

Aims of Labor Organizations. The aims of labor organiza- 
tions are usually clear and well defined. They strive for 
the social and intellectual as well as for the economic bet- 
terment of the working classes. They want the working- 
man to receive a wage that will enable him to buy a fair 
share of the good things of life, and they want the work- 
ing day to be of a length that will give leisure for the en- 
joyment of the benefits of education, culture, and refine- 
ment. They advocate the abolition of child labor, because 
they want the children to attend school. They demand 
that work in factories and mines be done under sanitary 
conditions, because they regard the health of workingmen 
as a matter of supreme importance. In brief, they favor 
all movements that tend to elevate labor, and resist all 
movements that tend to degrade it. 

The State and the Workingman. Under our system the 
regulation of labor is, for the most part, an affair of the 
State. The earlier State constitutions contained nothing 
about labor, because when they were framed there were no 
labor organizations and no labor problems. In recent 



376 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

years the constitutions are inserting clauses pertaining to 
labor. The constitution of Wyoming declares : ' ' The rights 
of labor shall have just protection through law calculated 
to secure to the laborer proper rewards for his service and 
to promote the industrial welfare of the State. ' ' The con- 
stitutions of California and Idaho forbid the employment 
of Chinese laborers upon State or municipal public works. 
The constitution of North Dakota declares that every citizen 
of the State shall be free to obtain employment wherever 
possible, and forbids the exchange of blacklists^ between 
corporations. In Louisiana the constitution forbids the 
passage of any law fixing the wages of manual labor. 
Numerous other illustrations might be given to show that 
the States are beginning to introduce the subject of labor 
into their constitutions. In the field of State legislation 
the affairs of workingmen receive a very large measure of 
attention, as will be more fully explained in the next chap- 
ter. 

The recognition of labor organizations by government is 
becoming quite general. Most of the States provide for 
the incorporation of trade unions, and a federal law per- 
mits national trade unions to be incorporated, provided 
they have two or more branches in every State and main- 
tain headquarters in the District of Columbia. Besides 
giving them power to incorporate, several States have lately 
attempted to protect trade unions by making it a mis- 
demeanor for an employer to discharge an employee for 
belonging to a labor organization. Several States have en- 
acted laws providing that certain kinds of public work shall 
be performed only by labor unions. 

Collective Bargaining. It is through the labor unions that 
workingmen are enabled to avail themselves of their full 
strength when they are bargaining with their employers 
for wages and hours of labor. When a single workman in 
an establishment employing thousands asks for higher 

1 Lists of persons objectionable to employers. 



LABOR 377 

wages, he is not likely to receive as much consideration as 
would be shown to a similar request coming from all his fel- 
low workmen united in a solid body. And it is in a united 
compact body that workmen are accustomed to make their 
wishes known to their employers. Under the trade-union 
system, instead of individual bargaining between employer 
and employee, there is collective hargaming. Representa- 
tives of the labor organization meet the employers, and there 
is higgling as to the price that shall be paid for labor ; and 
when a bargain is struck it binds all parties, including 
every employee belonging to the organization and every 
employer who has been a party to the compact. In some 
instances this collective bargaining is conducted on a vast 
scale; agreements are entered into that affect not only a 
single establishment but whole industries. 

Settlement of Labor Disputes. As long as collective bar- 
gaining is possible there is industrial peace; but when it 
fails, when employer and organized employees fail to come 
to an agreement, there is industrial war. In this war- 
fare the chief weapon on one side is the lockout: the em- 
ployer closes the doors of his establishment upon his em- 
ployees in a body and refuses to give them any work to do. 
The chief weapon on the other side is the strike: the em- 
ployees .in body throw down their tools and refuse to do 
any work. In either case, whether it is the lockout or the 
strike that is brought into use, there follows a deadlock that 
is destructive of the friendly feelings that ought to exist 
between an employer and his employees. And their fol- 
lows a cessation of production that sometimes works in- 
jury to millions of people who are in no way connected 
with the controversy. Even as these lines are being writ- 
ten the whole country is suffering because the bituminous 
mine owners and their employees have failed to come to 
an agreement as to wages and conditions of employment in 
the mines. 

So vast have been the losses occasioned by strikes, and 



378 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

so disturbing have been their effects upon society, that the 
government has been moved to provide means for their 
settlement. In about three fourths of the States there are 
laws providing for the settlement of industrial quarrels. 
Many of the States have established boards^ — called boards 
of conciliation or boards of arbitration — ^to settle, or to 
serve as channels for settling, disputes between em'ployers 
and employees. The steps in the arbitration proceedings 
are as follows: (1) the dispute is submitted to a third 
party; (2) an investigation is made; (3) strikes and lock- 
outs are refrained from during the period of the investiga- 
tion; (4) an arbitration award is made.^ 

The arbitration provided by law is, as a rule, permissive 
and voluntary. In some States, it is true, the State board 
of arbitration must cause an investigation to be made, and 
in some States provision for the enforcement of an arbi- 
tration award is made in cases where the representatives of 
hoth dides have agreed to abide by the decision of the 
board. But in no State does the law say that either party 
to the suit must agree to abide by the award. In no State 
is there out-and-out compulsory arbitration. About all a 
board of arbitration can do, therefore, is to inquire into the 
cause of a dispute or strike, render a decision as to the 
merits of the dispute, and depend upon the power of pub- 
lic opinion to give its decision weight. 

A Difficult Labor Problem. Can arbitration be made com- 
pulsory? After the several steps of arbitration have been 
taken and an award has been made, can the law say to the 
employer : ' ' This is the award ; accept it ; let the wheels 
of your factory turn ' ' ? Can it say to a workman : ' ' This 
is the award ; accept it ; take up your tools and go to 
work"? Here are questions that go to the very founda- 
tions of our social structure. To compel the employer to 
abide by the award and run his business in a manner pre- 
scribed by an outsider would seem to be doing violence to 

1 Principles of Labor Legislation, J. R. Commons and J, B. Andrews, p. 126. 



LABOR 379 

property rights. For it would seem that the owner of a 
factory has a right to say whether it shall be kept running 
or not. To compel the workman to labor for wages that he 
has not agreed to accept would seem to be doing violence to 
personal liberty. For it would seem that, just as it is 
the right of the employer to lock the door of his factory and 
thus withhold his property from use, so it is the right of 
the workman to throw down his tools and thus withhold his 
property, that is, his labor. To deny him this right and to 
force labor upon him would, in the opinion of many, be to 
impose upon him involuntary servitude, which would cer- 
tainly be violating the Constitution (149). 

The considerations suggested above give rise to some ex- 
ceedingly difficult questions relating to the workman's 
right to strike. Of the validity of this right there can be 
no doubt whatever: the strike is the workman's lawful 
weapon. But to what extent shall the exercise of this right 
be carried ? Have policemen the right to desert their posts ? 
May miners throw down their picks in the dead of winter 
and by ceasing to produce coal cause millions to freeze? 
Shall railroad employees by refusing to haul trains strangle 
transportation? The answer to the question about the 
policemen is not hard to give, for it is furnished both by 
the civic sense of mankind and by public opinion. The 
policeman is a part of the government itself; he is the pub- 
lic guardian of law and order ; and his right to strike does 
not go so far as to allow him to expose society to the lawless 
deeds of criminals. But answers to the questions about the 
miners and the railroad workers are not easy to give ; for the 
railroads are not, in the fullest sense, a part of the govern- 
mental machine, and the mines are in no sense a part of it. 
But railroads and mines must be kept in operation or the 
people will starve and freeze. What shall be done, then, 
when the right of the miners or the railroad men to strike 
comes into conflict with the rights of the public? 

One State (Kansas) has attempted a solution of this 



380 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

difficult question. It has passed a law that establishes a 
State Industrial Court, which has supervision over the 
manufacture and preparation of food products in any and 
all stages of the process, over the manufacture of clothing 
and all wearing apparel, over all mining and fuel produc- 
tion, and over the transportation of necessities. Suspen- 
sion of operation in such manufactures or transportation 
is declared illegal, and if a labor controversy arises threat- 
ening the continuity of service, the Industrial Court may 
come forward and issue such orders as may be necessary 
to prevent a cessation of operations. If either or both 
parties to the controversy should refuse to obey the court's 
orders, the State is authorized to step in and temporarily 
take over the industry in question and operate it. An in- 
dustry thus taken over is "impressed with a public in- 
terest," and during the period in which the State is in 
control strikes and lockouts are by law forbidden. 

This Kansas law is an experiment. It may succeed or 
it may fail. But, whether it succeeds or fails, there can be 
no doubt that the experiment is a timely one. If this law 
fails, other experiments must be made until a way is found 
to protect the workman in the full enjoyment of his per- 
sonal liberty, and at the same time to protect the public 
from the injuries inflicted by a suspension of basic in- 
dustries. 

The Federal Government and the Workingman. The 

Constitution is silent on the subject of labor. At the time 
it was drawn up there was no labor problem in America 
and it was entirely practicable to leave labor matters 
to be regulated by State authority. But in recent years 
the federal government has had a great deal to do with 
labor matters. In addition to the enactment of labor laws 
relating to such subjects as come within the scope of federal 
authority, Congress has established a number of govern- 
mental agencies designed to foster and promote the wel- 



LABOR 381 

fare of wage-earners. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
in the Department of Labor, acquires and diffuses among 
the people much useful information on subjects connected 
with labor. The Children's Bureau, in the same Depart- 
ment, investigates and reports upon all matters pertain- 
ing to the welfare of children and child life, giving es- 
pecial attention to the subjects of infant mortality, orphan- 
age, dangerous occupations, and child labor. The federal 
Railway Labor Board, as we have learned (p. 337), has for 
its aim the settlement of disputes between the employees of 
railroads and the emplo^^ers. The Secretary of the federal 
Department of Labor is authorized by law to act as medi- 
ator, and to appoint commissioners of conciliation in labor 
disputes, whenever in his judgment the interests of in- 
dustrial peace may require it to be done. 

Thus the influence of the federal government in the 
world of labor is already considerable, and its influence 
is likely to become greater. For many difficult labor prob- 
lems remain to be solved. Of those awaiting solution 
many cannot be reached by the State because they are 
problems of an interstate character. These, of course, must 
receive the attention of Congress. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Give an account of the growth of labor organizations in Eng- 
land; in America. 

2. For what purposes do workingmen combine? 

3. To what extent is the subject of labor introduced into State 
constitutions ? 

4. What is collective bargaining? 

5. What is industrial war? How does war of this kind affect 
the social welfare? 

6. In what way have States attempted to settle labor disputes? 

7. What difficulties stand in the way of compulsory arbitra- 
tion ? 

8. Discuss the question of the workman's right to strike. 

9. In what way has Kansas attempted to solve the problem of 
strikes and lockouts? 

10. Enumerate the labor matters that have been dealt with by the 
federal government. 



382 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Does the constitution of this State say anj^tliing about labor 
or labor organizations? about strikes or lockouts? about boycotts or 
blacklists ? 

2. Is there a bureau of labor statistics in this State? If so, 
secure a copy of the last report of its chief officers and find answers 
to the following questions: What strikes have occurred in this 
State during the past year? What per cent, of these were suc- 
cessful? Were any of the strikes settled by arbitration? What is 
the average daily wage of workmen in this State? Is this average 
increasing or decreasing? What does the commissioner of the 
bureau recommend in the way of legislation bearing upon labor 
problems ? 

3. Is there a board of arbitration in this State? If so, secure a 
copy of its report and ascertain what it is doing in the way of 
settling labor disputes. 

4. In about one third of the States it is against the law for an 
employer to exact, as a condition of emploj^ment, an agreement 
from an employee not to become a member of a labor organization. 
Is it against the law in this State for an employer to exact such an 
agreement ? 

5. Show how a strike sometimes affects a great many more people 
than the strikers and their employers. Show how a great strike 
affects the business of the entire world. 

6. If you were an employer of labor, do you believe you would be 
willing to sacrifice a little money for the sake of the happiness and 
comfort of your employees? Is it likely that the labor problem 
will ever be satisfactorily solved as long as both capitalists and 
laborers ignore moral considerations in their dealings with each 
other ? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Organization of Laborers: Carver, 400-408. 

2. The Labor Unions: Dole, 349-367. 

3. Labor Organizations: Bullock, 467-485. 

4. Collective Bargaining: Commons, 91-166. 

5. The Labor Problem: Thompson, 311-329. 



XLVII 
THE LAWS AND THE WORKINGMAN 

In the last chapter it was stated that in the fiekl of State legis- 
lation there are many laws relating to the affairs of workingmen. 
In this chapter an account of some of the most important of these 
labor laws will be given, and the principles that underlie legislation 
of this kind will be discussed. 

Police Power. "We have learned of the aims of organized 
labor (p. 376). Most of these aims have been achieved, 
or are achievable, by legislation that rests upon what is 
called the police power of government. This power does 
not refer to the authority exercised by a policeman in his 
enforcement of a law. It refers to the inherent power 
that a government possesses "to take such action and to 
pass such laws as may be deemed necessary for its own 
protection and to secure the safety, comfort, and general 
welfare of its citizens." This power is very broad and 
covers an indefinite and miscellaneous range of subjects. 
But it is not so broad and far-reaching that it can en- 
croach upon rights secured or granted by the Constitution. 

The police power has been held to include quarantine 
laws, fire and building laws, laws for draining marshes, 
licensing slaughterhouses, excluding paupers and imrad- 
grants, caring for the poor, regulating the construction of 
highways and bridges, prohibiting and abating nuisances, 
prohibiting lotteries, regulating the employment of women 
and children, ordering the destruction of infected houses 
and property. Indeed, the police power covers such an 
immense number of subjects that to enumerate them all 
would be next to impossible. 

The exercise of the police power is mainly a State func- 
tion. In the division of powers between the States and 

383 



384 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the federal government, the safety, comfort, and general 
welfare of the people are subjects that are to be dealt with 
by the several States. It is true, the federal government 
may exercise the police power whenever, in the discharge of 
its regular functions, it may seem necessary to do so ; but it 
is rarely that it does this. With one important excep- 
tion — to be fully considered hereafter (p. 397) — the federal 
government, in accordance with the spirit of our political 
system, leaves the police power in its integrity to the 
States. 

The Laborer is Worthy of His Hire. One of the sub- 
jects brought within the range of the police power is the 
wages of workingmen. Of the millions engaged in gain- 
ful occupations the vast majority are wage-earners, and 
it is regarded as good public policy for government to 
concern itself with the matter of wages. The laws permit 
the laborer to contract for whatever wage he may be willing 
to accept; he cannot be compelled to work for wages fixed 
by another. The wages earned by a laborer are in a 
peculiar sense his own. For in every State the law pro- 
vides that wages up to a certain amount cannot be seized 
by a creditor. The amount of wages thus exempted varies 
from State to State, running from $20 to $100. Also, 
when the laborer comes to collect wages due him, he finds 
himself favored by the law. For in nearly every State 
wages up to a certain sum are considered as preferred 
claims : that is, in the payment of debts they must be paid 
first. 

In recent years government, in its desire to protect wage- 
earners, has, in some instances, gone so far as to have some- 
thing to say about the rate of wages that shall be paid 
to workers. Lawmakers, finding that large classes of un- 
skilled workers are paid wages far too low for decent 
self-support, have been coming to the relief of such under- 
paid employees by enacting laws that fix a rate below 
which wages shall not sink. That is to say, they have 



THE LAWS AND THE WORKINGMAN 385 

passed minimum wage laws. The purpose of the minimum 
wage is to protect unorganized workers. Organized 
workers, through the power of collective bargaining 
(p. 376), can usually protect themselves; but persons out- 
side the unions are often compelled to engage in a compe- 
tition that is so fierce that they are forced to accept a wage 
too low for decent living. Where a minimum wage law 
is in operation competition cannot produce this bad re- 
sult, for such a law fixes a living wage, that is, a wage that 
is sufficient for the "normal needs of the average employee 
regarded as a human being living in a civilized country." 

Minimum wage legislation is permitted by the constitu- 
tions of two of our States. In Massachusetts, Arkansas, 
California, Minnesota, Kansas, Oregon, Wisconsin, Utah, 
North Dakota, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, and the 
District of Columbia minimum wage laws have been passed. 
But thus far such legislation has not been general in char- 
acter, for it has been made to apply only to women and 
children. Other countries, however, notably Australia and 
Great Britain, have minimum wage laws that are applicable 
to both sexes. 

What is the effect of minimum wage laws? What re- 
sults have they produced? Professor J. R. Commons an- 
swers these questions as follows: "Among the better es- 
tablished results of minimum wage legislation may be men- 
tioned (1) that it has raised wages; (2) that minimum 
wage rates do not in general tend to become maximum 
rates; (3) that it does not necessarily force workers out 
of industry; (4) that it does not unduly handicap em- 
ployers; (5) that it does not undermine trade-union or- 
ganization; and (6) that it does not decrease efficiency."^ 

"Eight Hours for Work; Eight Hours for Rest; Eight 
Hours for What You Will." Unless there is a minimum 
wage law standing in the way, freedom of contract be- 
tween employer and employee is complete. But in respect 

1 Principles of Labor Legislation, p. 196. 



386 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

to hours of labor this freedom is somewhat restricted. In 
about half the States it is unlawful for children under 
sixteen to be employed for more than eight hours a day. 
In about three fourths of the States it is provided that 
women shall not be employed for more than ten hours a 
day, while in a few States the hour limit for women is 
, fixed at eight hours. Millions of men also are reached 
by laws limiting the hours of employment. The length of 
the legal day of federal emploj^ees is eight hours. More 
than half the States have eight-hour laws for employees 
engaged on public works, and in a large number of cities 
the eight-hour rule is applied. Eight hours is deemed a 
day's work for railroad employees operating interstate 
trains. In some States the hours of men working at certain 
occupations have been limited by law. 

While the laws restricting the hours of labor reach 
millions of workers and give them an eight-hour day, men 
and women by the tens of millions have a much longer 
working day — ^a nine-hour day, a ten-hour, even a twelve- 
hour day. Yet the trend of affairs everywhere is toward 
an eight-hour day. The rallying cry of the labor unions 
is : " Eight hours for work ; eight hours for rest ; and eight 
hours for what j^ou will." The movement for the shorter 
work-day is world-wide. One of the declared aims of the 
League of Nations is to secure the adoption throughout the 
entire world of an eight-hour day and one day of rest in 
each week. 

Unemployment. In countless cases it is not a problem 
of rest that confronts the toiler, but a problem of getting 
work to do. For in our workaday, practical world employ- 
ment is a matter of catch-as-you-can, and vast numbers of 
men who are willing and able to work are unable to find 
jobs. The result is that society suffers an enormous loss 
through the wastes of unemployment. And the jobless 
worker suffers an enormous loss. Besides his immediate 
loss in wages, he often loses pluck and courage and hope. 



THE LAWS AND THE WORKINGMAN 387 

A period of enforced idleness is a time of storm and 
stress that means a drain upon the vital forces that can- 
not be measured in terms of money. When we consider 
the extent of unemployment and its devastating effects, 
we are bound to regard it as one of the greatest evils in 
the industrial world. 

As great as this evil is, it is not one for which govern- 
ment applies a remedy; government does not guarantee 
work to the unemployed. In the list of rights that be- 
long to the citizen the "right to work" does not appear. 
Still, government is not wholly indifferent to the needs of 
the unemployed. In many States it has been recognized 
that to help the unemployed to find work is a proper func- 
tion of government, and State employment officers have 
been created for the purpose of bringing the '^ jobless man 
to the manless job" without cost to either the employer 
or the employee. In scores of cities, too, there have been 
established municipal employment offices whose function 
is to give information to persons seeking work and to 
assist men in securing it. The federal government also 
has joined the movement for reducing the number of the 
unemployed. The Department of Labor, through thou- 
sands of postmasters and other federal officers, ascertains 
where laborers are needed, where they may be found, and 
*puts em_ployers who want men in touch with men who want 
work. Congress has not been liberal in supporting federal 
employment agencies, although liberality in this direction 
would without doubt be justified. For a well-organized 
central employment bureau, cooperating with municipal and 
State agencies, would have an almost boundless opportunity 
for rendering a service that would be of incalculable value 
to the nation. 

Insurance Against Accidents. In respect to injuries re- 
ceived by employees while at their work, the police power 
is freely used for the protection and relief of the work- 
men. In nearly every country there are employers' liabil- 



388 AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ity laws, which provide for insurance against occupational 
accidents and disease. In foreign countries laws of this 
kind reach more than fifty million wage-earners, while in 
the United States a very large portion of the working 
population is protected by industrial accident insurance 
paid by employers. 

In the United States a law of Congress provides com- 
pensation for employees injured in the federal service, and 
more than forty States have passed employers' liability 
laws providing industrial accident insurance. In some 
States the relief afforded is small, and in no State does 
the compensation law cover all employments. Usually 
agriculture and domestic service are exempted from the 
provisions of the act. Nevertheless, in most cases the em- 
ployers' liability law is a blessing to workmen. For ex- 
ample, take the case of a man who meets with an accident 
in a factory in Pennsylvania. For fourteen days the em- 
ployer must supply necessary first aid, including medicine 
and surgical and hospital services. If the accident re- 
sults in total disability, the injured employee after the 
fourteenth day begins to receive half of his pay, and con- 
tinues to be compensated at this rate for 500 weeks ; the 
compensation, however, must not be more than $10 a week 
nor less than $5, and in the aggregate it must not exceed 
$4,000. If the man is only partially disabled, he receives 
50 per cent, of the difference between his wages received 
before the accident and his earning power thereafter. 
Here, again, the weekly compensation must not be more 
than $10. If the injured man is permanently disabled, 
his compensation is graded according to the character of 
the injury. Thus, for the loss of a hand he receives 50 
per cent, of his wages for 175 weeks; for the loss of an 
arm 50 per cent, for .215 weeks. If the accident results 
in his death, his dependents receive a compensation that 
is specified by the terms of the law. 

Child-Labor Laws. Of all the subjects brought within the 



> THE LAWS AND THE WORKINGMAN 389 

range of the police power, few, if any, are of greater im- 
portance than that of child labor. In the old time the 
labor of children was a thing with which government had 
little to do. If there were any laws at all on the subject, 
they were usually passed for the purpose of keeping the 
boys and girls employed, the idea being that the more they 
worked the better. When manufactures in America began 
to flourish, Alexander Hamilton approved, one of the 
reasons given for his approval being that manufactures 
would render "children more useful, . . . and more early 
useful than they would otherwise be." In these times, 
however, the employment of little children is condemned 
the world over, and everywhere the police power is invoked 
to protect the child from labor that would be harmful to 
its health or its morals. In a large number of States 
there are laws prescribing a mifiiimum age, below which 
children may not be legally employed in any gainful occu- 
pation, agriculture and domestic service being exempted 
from the prohibition. In most States children under four- 
teen years of age are excluded from employment in such 
establishments as factories, mills, and workshops, and in 
such places as hotels, restaurants, laundries, bowling-alleys, 
and theaters. In a few States, as in Ohio and Michigan, 
the minimum age is fixed at fifteen. A federal law passed 
in 1919 has for its purpose the prevention of child labor 
by the exercise of the taxing power. Under this law 
persons employing children under sixteen in mines, or 
under fourteen in factories or canneries, are compelled to 
pay 10 per cent, of their entire net profits in addition to 
all their other taxes. 

Questions on the Text 

1. What is meant by the police power? Name some of the sub- 
jects covered by this power. By which government is the police 
power usually exercised? 

2. In what way does government concern itself in respect to 
the wages of workmen? What is a minimum wage law? What 
have been the results of minimum wage legislation ? 

3. To what extent have our laws regulated the hours of labor? 
What can you say of the eight-hour movement? 



390 AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

4. Describe the evils of unemployment. What efforts have been 
made by government to find jobs for the unemployed? 

5. To what extent are workmen provided with insurance against 
accident in foreign countries and in the United States? Give an 
account of the workings of a typical employers' liability law. 

6. Give an account of child-labor legislation in the United States. 



Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Does the constitution of this State say anything about the 
wages of workingmen? about the minimum wage? about the length 
of the working day? about unemployment? about child labor? 

2. Up to what amount are wages in this State exempted from 
seizure for the payment of debts? Up to what amount is a 
claim for wages regarded as a preferred claim? Is there a mini- 
mum wage law in this State? If so, what is the minimum rate? 
If there is no such law, ought there to be one? If so, what mini- 
mum rate would you establish? 

3. What is the law in this State in regard to a day's labor for 
one employed upon public work? What is the legal length of a 
working-day for children ? for women ? Make out a list of the in- 
dustries and occupations in which, to your knowledge, the working 
day is eight hours. Frame a wise and just law for the regula- 
tion of the length of a working day for children; for women; for 
men. 

4. What bad effects does the enforced idleness of large numbers 
of people have upon society? What bad effects upon the individual 
does enforced idleness have? Give an account of the workings of 
any public employment agencies that may have been established in 
this State or in this ciij- 

5. Is there an employers' liability law in this State? If so, 
describe fully the protection it gives to an injured workman. 

6. Is there a child-labor law in this State? If so, what is the 
age below which children may not be employed? Enumerate the 
losses sustained by society when children are employed at a ten- 
der age. Enumerate the losses sustained by the child itself. 

7. Health Insurance. As a corollary of the workman's accident 
insurance, a system of health insurance for workingmen has been 
proposed. The benefit to workers, under a complete scheme of 
health insurance, would consist of : ( 1 ) cash payment of a part of 
the wages of workers disabled by sickness; (2) complete medical 
care for the worker, including hospital and home care, and the 
cost of all medicines; (3) adequate provision for rehabilitation, both 
physical and vocational; (4) dental care; (5) medical care for the 
wives and dependents of workers. The cost of health insurance 
would be shared by the employer and the employee in equal pro- 
portion. Such is the plan of health insurance recommended by an 
Ohio commission that made an official investigation of the subject. 
What do you think of the plan? 



THE LAWS AND THE WORKINGMAN 391 

Topics for Special Work 

1. Social Insurance: Cleveland and Schafer, 263-292; Thompson;, 

382-396. 

2. Individual Bargaining: Commons, 35-86. 

3. The Human Wage: Commons, 167-196. 

4. Unemployment: Commons, 261-293. 

5. Industrial Accident Insurance: Commons, 354-382. 

6. Regulation of Labor: Gettell, 517-518. 



XLVIII 
HEALTH, SAFETY, AND MORALITY 

In the preceding chapter we learned of important instances in 
which the police power is invoked for the protection of workingmen. 
This power also extends to the regulation of matters that affect the 
health, safety, and morality of society. In this chapter, therefore, 
we shall learn how the police power is applied in matters pertain- 
ing to public health, public safety, and public morality. 

A Word More About the Police Power. It has been stated 
(p. 384) that, in the name of the police power, govern- 
ment does the things that seem necessary to be done for 
the protection of society and for the promotion of the gen- 
eral welfare. An important thing to be remembered about 
the police power is this: it rests on the principle that one 
must use his own in such a way as not to injure another. 
I must make such use of my rights, my freedom, my prop- 
erty, as will not interfere with my neighbor in the lawful 
enjoyment of his rights and freedom and property. If a 
man, in order to strengthen his lungs, shouts lustily in 
an open field where no one can hear him, government will 
not check him; but if his shouting is done where people 
are disturbed by it, the police power may be interposed 
to silence him. A maker of dangerous explosives may ply 
his trade in an isolated building, and government may not 
interfere; but if he undertakes to make such explosives 
where the lives and property of others are thereby put 
in jeopardy, the police power will be invoked to prevent 
the manufacture. From its nature, the police power will 
always have a wider 'field of action in a city than in a 
village, and in a village than in a farming neighborhood. 

392 



HEALTH, SAFETY, AND MORALITY 393 

Public Health. The State avails itself of the police power 
to preserve and protect the public health. In most of the 
States there is a State Board of Health, which exercises 
a general supervision over sanitary affairs, and cooperates 
with and gives suggestions to the health officers of the 
county. One of the most important duties of the State 
Board is to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. In 
order to accomplish this, it provides for the compulsory 
vaccination of citizens, and for the disinfection and destruc- 
tion of places exposed to infectious and contagious diseases. 
It also may isolate persons stricken with contagious mal- 
adies, and assist in the enforcement of quarantine laws. 

In a few States the State Board of Health is clothed 
with substantial powers, and exercises a real control over 
local sanitation ; but in most of the States the actual care 
of the public health rests with the local government. In 
cities, where proper sanitary conditions are of the highest 
importance, a municipal board of health wages constant 
warfare against conditions that produce disease. In the 
discharge of their duties health officers are often compelled 
to intrude upon the private rights of the citizen. If some 
one in a house is suffering with a contagious disease, the 
house may be quarantined ; if there is an epidemic of small- 
pox in a community, the citizens, willing or unwilling, may 
be compelled to be vaccinated ; if the water in a private 
well contains disease-bearing germs, the well may be con- 
demned and filled up by command of the health officers; 
if wearing apparel has been exposed to contagious disease, 
it may be destroyed by officers of the law. In the name 
of the public health and by virtue of the police power 
that it possesses, the government makes these invasions upon 
private rights. 

The Federal Government and the Public Health. The 

preservation of the public health is primarily a State func- 
tion, for it is a matter that comes within the scope of the 
police power (p. 385). The federal government, however, 



394 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

is by no means inactive in matters where the national 
health is concerned. In the Department of the Treasury 
is a bureau known as the Public Health Service. In this 
bureau several thousand persons — physicians, nurses, at- 
tendants — are employed in public health work. Besides 
treating the ailments of soldiers, sailors, and marines, this 
federal bureau carries out the national quarantine regula- 
tions, its officers being stationed at almost every seaport, 
where they take measures to prevent the germs of such 
diseases as the bubonic plague from finding lodgment on 
American soil. Many of the workers in the Public Health 
Service go out into different parts of the country and 
assist in preventing the spread of contagious diseases. The 
bureau also has authority to study the conditions that in- 
fluence the propagation and spread of disease, and may 
make official investigations covering the sanitation, sewage, 
and pollution of the navigable streams and lakes of the 
country. In its work the Public Health Service is not 
hampered by State boundaries. It serves, therefore, as 
a useful interstate agency for the promotion of the national 
health. 

Public Safety. The State, or the local government acting 
for it, uses the police power freely to protect the public 
from unusual dangers. It compels railroad companies to 
fence their tracks and build them above or below grade 
at crossings ; it requires engineers to ring the bell and blow 
the whistle at places on the railroad where the approach 
of the train may be dangerous to travel ; it regulates the 
speed of trains and of automobiles; it limits the number 
of passengers a steamboat may carry; it compels the con- 
struction of fire-escapes for tall buildings; it permits the 
destruction of property to prevent the spread of fire; it 
throws safeguards around the sale of explosives and poison- 
ous drugs ; it commands the muzzling of dangerous dogs ; 
it orders the demolition of buildings that threaten to fall 
and destroy life or property ; it abates nuisances that inter- 



HEALTH, SAFETY, AND MORALITY 395 

fere with the comfort and convenience of society. In a 
hundred ways the citizen is reminded that the interests 
and desires of the individual are brushed aside when these 
happen to be hostile to the safety of society. 

Public Morality. For centuries governments sought by 
legislation to mold the character of individuals. They 
subjected the private conduct of the citizen to official regu- 
lations and restraints with the view of making him a better 
man. Experience slowly taught the truth that a man can- 
not be legislated into morality, and governments gradually 
changed their attitude. Instead of seeking to improve the 
morals of the individual, they framed their laws with the 
view of preserving the morals of the state. In America 
the State uses the police power to protect the public mo- 
rality, but in doing this it does not enter into the con- 
science and intention of the individual and pronounce cer- 
tain acts immoral ; it simply declares that certain external 
acts come under the police power for regulation or sup- 
pression, because they corrupt the morals of the public 
and thus strike a blow at the general welfare. 

Prohibition. Prominent among the external acts of in- 
dividuals that have been brought within scope of the police 
power is the excessive drinking of intoxicating liquors. 
Intemperance is as old as history, and efforts to suppress 
it by governmental action are almost as old. A thousand 
years before the Christian era, an emperor in China, in 
order to put an end to drunkenness, ordered all the vines 
in the kingdom to be uprooted, a reform that was imi- 
tated later (800 b. c.) by Lycurgus of Greece. During the 
middle ages the church struggled with intemperance, but 
at the end of the period Bacon was compelled to say that 
all the crimes on earth did not destroy so many lives or 
alienate so much property as drunkenness. In the seven- 
teenth and eighteenth centuries the English government 
undertook to deal with the liquor traffic, but it did not go 
about the matter in the right way. The consumption of 



396 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

liquor increased and drunkenness continued to be the pre- 
vailing vice in all classes of society. In the American 
colonies the evil was widespread. 

In the early years of the nineteenth century temperance 
societies in England and the United States began a cru- 
sade in favor of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors, 
and about the middle of the century the influence of these 
societies began to be felt in legislative halls. In 1851 
Maine passed a law prohibiting the sale and manufacture 
of intoxicating liquors except for manufacturing and 
medicinal purposes. This was the beginning of a prohibi- 
tion movement that culminated in 1919 in the adoption of 
the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States. This amendment prohibits the "manufac- 
ture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, 
the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof 
from the United States, and all territories subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof, for beverage purposes (163)." The 
effect of the prohibition amendment is to bestow a police 
power upon the federal government. This, as we have 
learned (p. 385), is a departure from the traditional Amer- 
ican policy. 

By the terms of the Eighteenth Amendment, Congress 
and the several States are given concurrent power (p. 47) 
to enforce the amendment by appropriate legislation (164). 
In pursuance of this power the Volstead Act was passed, 
prescribing rules for the enforcement of the amendment. 
Since the State has concurrent power. State enforcement 
laws are also in operation. Where the State and the 
federal law conflict, the former gives way to the latter 
(p. 55). 

Will nation-wide prohibition be effective? It will be 
successful to the extent that the movement receives the 
support of public opinion. A prohibition law, like any 
other law, must have behind it a strong public sentiment 
(p. 235). Where judges and juries and law officers and 
the best citizenship of a community are in earnest, and 



HEALTH, SAFETY, AND MORALITY 397 

are determined that intoxicating liquors shall not be manu- 
factured or sold, prohibitory laws, whether State or federal, 
will be as effective in that community as other laws. 

Questions on the Text 

1. On what fundamental principle does the police power rest? 

2. What are the duties of the State Board of Health? Give 
illustrations of the way health officers exercise the police power. 

3. Give an account of the services of the federal government in 
connection with the national health. 

4. What are some of the uses made of the police power to pro- 
tect the public safety? 

5. What actions are regulated or suppressed in the name of 
public morality? 

6. What efforts have been made to suppress intemperance by gov- 
ernmental action? What are the provisions of the Prohibition 
Amendment? of the Volstead Act? 

7. Upon what does the effectiveness of a prohibition law de- 
pend? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Give reasons why, as a general rule, it is better that the police 
power should be exercised by the State rather than by the federal 
government. 

2. Does the constitution of this State say anything about the 
police power? 

3. Is there a State board of health in this State? How is it 
chosen? What are some of its powers? 

4. Is there a local board of health in this municipality? How 
is it chosen? What is it doing for the public health? 

5. Name some uses of the police power not stated in the text. 

6. Are you aware of any unwarranted use of the police power in 
this State? If so, how may the abuse be corrected? 

7. On what grounds would you justify a law or ordinance that 
forbids: the firing of Chinese crackers on the Fourth of July? the 
tooting of horns on Christmas Eve? the wearing of feathers in 
ladies' hats? the running of trains on Sunday? the selling of ciga- 
rettes to boys? the building of wooden houses in a city? 

8. Does the constitution of this State say anything about the 
sale of intoxicating liquors? 

9. Are the laws of this State in reference to the sale of liquor 
effective ? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. Protection of Life and Health: Bruere, 314-321. 

2. Protection of Persons and Property: Bruere, 263-313. 

3. Fire and Health Protection: Howe, 231-251. 

4. Democracy and Health: Cleveland and Schafer, 165-192. 

5. Prohibition: Reinsch, 338-363. 



XLIX 
THE HELPING HAND OF THE STATE 

Society always has its poor and unfortunate, and one of the func- 
tions of government is to lend a helping hand to persons who need 
relief. In this chapter we shall learn how government attempts 
to solve the problems of the poor. 

The Poor We Have Always with Us. That it is the func- 
tion of government to care for the dependent classes has 
long been recognized. Throughout history destitution has 
always been present to excite the sympathy of rulers and 
to make an appeal for the helping hand of the state. 
Among the ancients a portion of the tithes was by law 
devoted to the poor. In ancient Rome corn-laws pro- 
vided for the distribution of grain from the public gran- 
aries to those who could not afford to buy. Throughout 
the middle ages charity was, for the most part, administered 
by the Church, but in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
turies the governments of Europe began to legislate for 
the poor. In the reign of Elizabeth England passed a 
law requiring each parish to support its own poor ; and this 
law served as a model for poor laws in the colonies, and 
later was imitated by the several States. 

Oare of the Poor a Function of Local Government. The 

federal government has no charitable functions. It pro- 
vides homes for its worn-out sailors and soldiers, it pays 
out vast sums as pensions to those who served in the Civil 
War and the Spanish American "War, and it maintains in 
the TreasurjT- Department a War Risk Bureau which ad- 
ministers a system of insurance designed for the protec- 
tion and benefit of soldiers and sailors enrolled in the war 
against Germany; but the money spent in these directions 

398 



THE HELPING HAND OF THE STATE 399 

is in no sense a gift; it is a just debt due the recipients 
for service performed. Congress sometimes extends quick 
relief to communities that have been visited by fire or flood, 
but such assistance cannot properly be called charity. 

Pov^^er for public alms-giving flows from the State. In 
the more recently adopted constitutions provision is broadly 
made for the subject of pauperism, just as provision is 
made for the subject of crime. The legislature usually 
imposes upon each locality the burden of caring for its 
own poor. Charity thus begins at home. The State gov- 
ernment seldom dispenses aid directly to the dependent 
poor. 

The civil division that most frequently has charge of 
public charity is the county. There are often county di- 
rectors or overseers of the poor (p. 186), and these have 
charge of the county alms-house and of the distribution of 
funds to the needy. In States where there is a vigorous 
township government, the township, and not the county, 
administers the charities (p. 193), and likewise in a well or- 
ganized city a department of charities often relieves the 
county of its charitable function. 

Outdoor and Indoor Relief. There are two historic 
methods of helping the poor, the method of outdoor relief 
and indoor relief. Outdoor relief is the relief of the poor 
in their homes ; indoor relief is given to the poor who have 
become inmates of alms-houses. In most of the States the 
two methods are employed side by side. The applicant 
for aid sometimes receives a small sum of money to be 
spent by himself in his home ; sometimes he must go to the 
alms-house for food, clothing, and shelter. Whether aid 
shall be given indoors or outdoors is a question that the au- 
thorities of the locality decide, each case being judged ac- 
cording to the circumstances attending it. 

The reasons for outdoor relief are these: (1) it is kindly, 
since the recipient is not separated from his friends and 
family; (2) it is economical, since it costs less on an aver- 



400 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

age to assist a person in Ms home than it does to support 
him in an alms-house; (3) it would be impossible to accom- 
modate in alms-houses all who apply for aid. 

The reasons against outdoor relief are: (1) it increases 
the number of applicants, because it is less disgraceful than 
the indoor system; (2) it corrupts politics by tempting 
the authorities to extend aid in return for votes; (3) it 
reduces the rate of wages, because its recipients can afford 
to work for less than their self-supporting competitors.^ 

The Defective Classes. Government extends its aid to the 

defective classes as well as to the dependent and helpless 
poor. A century ago paupers, defectives, and criminals 
were often huddled together within the same walls and sub- 
jected to treatment that was sometimes barbarous. Now 
there are separate institutions for each class. Moreover, 
the defectives are also divided into classes and are cared 
for in separate institutions. Thus we have institutions for 
the blind, for the deaf and dumb, for the insane, for the 
feeble-minded, for the epileptic, for the deformed. 

As a rule, the expense of caring for the defective classes 
is too heavy to be borne wholly by the local government, 
and it becomes necessary for the State to care for them. 
In almost every State the central government provides 
hospitals for the insane, schools for the deaf and dumb, 
schools for the blind, and reformatory schools for juvenile 
offenders. These State institutions for defectives are sup- 
ported in part by State revenues, in part by contributions 
from the local government. 

State Boards of Charities. In nearly all the States there 
have been established State boards of charities. The duties 
of these boards vary, but usually the State board of char- 
ities exercises a close supervision over all the State reforma- 
tories and institutions for the defective classes, and inspects 
the charitable work of the localities and makes a report 

1 See A. G. Warner, American Charities. 



THE HELPING HAND OF THE STATE 401 

thereon to the governor or to the legislature. In several 
instances this board possesses a very substantial power. 
Thus in New York the State board of charities visits, in- 
spects, and maintains a general supervision of all institu- 
tions, societies, or associations of a charitable, corrective, or 
reformatory character, whether State, municipal, or unin- 
corporated, and it can enforce in these institutions a hu- 
mane and wise administration. 

Mothers' Pensions; Old- Age Pensions. A popular form of 
outdoor relief is the mothers' pension. This is a certain 
sum paid out to the public treasury to a mother for the 
support and education of her children, when her family 
is dependent. For example, in Massachusetts the law pro- 
vides that in every city and town the overseer of the poor 
shall aid mothers with dependent children under four- 
teen, the aid furnished to be sufficient to enable the mothers 
to bring up the children properly in their own homes. The 
law takes pains to state that mothers and children receiv- 
ing aid in this way shall not be deemed to be paupers by 
reason of having received it. The laws providing mothers' 
pensions vary widely from State to State. The amount 
allowed for each orphan child ranges from $2 to $8 a week, 
and the age up to which an allowance may be made for a 
child varies from thirteen to seventeen years, sixteen years 
being the maximum age in most of the States. The newer 
laws and more recent amendments are in the direction of 
making the allowances more liberal and of raising the age 
of children who may legally receive the aid. Mothers' pen- 
sion laws are in effect in nearly forty States, and it is 
estimated that more than 100,000 mothers and children 
are benefited by this relief. The widespread approval 
that has been given to the movement for mothers' pensions 
indicates that in the popular mind there is a deep-rooted 
conviction that no child should be deprived of home life 
and a mother's care simply because poverty stands at the 
door. 



402 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

But dependent motliers are not the only people for 
whom pensions may be claimed on the ground of public 
policy. There is a growing conviction that the very old 
also are proper subjects for pensions. An investigation 
shows that nearly 1,250,000 persons in the United States 
above sixty-five years of age are dependent upon private 
and public charity. The majority of these men and women 
are worthy wage-earners who have toiled for society for 
thirty or forty or fifty years. Why, in their old age, 
should they not receive, as of right, pensions that would 
relieve them of the necessity of resorting to charity? In 
most of the countries of Europe measures have been taken 
to provide for the needs of the very old. In England, 
for example, every man and woman over seventy years 
old, who is of good character and has no property, re- 
ceives a weekly pension from the government. In the 
United States little has been done to solve this problem, 
although it has not been wholly neglected. In several 
States, notably in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, 
and Wisconsin, commissions have been established for in- 
vestigating the question of old-age pensions, while the 
advocacy of the kind of relief seems to be gaining in earn- 
estness and strength. 

In 1920 Congress gave official recognition to the policy 
of old age pensions by passing the Retirement Bill. Under 
this law Uncle Sam pays annuities of from $180 to $720 to 
his civilian employees who have reached the age of seventy 
and have been in his service at least fifteen years. Special 
provision is made for retiring mechanics, letter carriers, and 
post office clerks at sixty-five, and railway postal clerks at 
sixty-two. It is estimated that over 400,000 federal em- 
ployees will participate in the benefits of the retirement 
system. It is hoped that the retirement policy, besides 
bringing to hundreds of thousands an assurance of some 
provision against old age and helplessness, will also do much 
in the way of promoting efficiency in the federal offices. 



THE HELPING HAND OF THE STATE 403 

Organized Charity. Of course, government is not the only 
alms-giver. We give to the beggar whom we pass on the 
street; well-to-do people often make it a point to extend 
regular assistance to certain destitute families; churches 
of every denomination engage in charity work; societies 
and associations for the relief of the poor abound in every 
community. 

For a long time private charities as well as public 
were indiscriminate and unorganized, and the results of 
the haphazard giving were often unfortunate and some- 
times ludicrous. Alms unwisely extended sometimes con- 
verted a person who was simply needy into a professional 
beggar, and the abundant sources of aid often invited 
the lazy to quit work and live entirely upon charity. This 
was possible when, by a little diplomacy and cunning, one 
could exploit the benevolence of perhaps a half dozen 
churches and as many societies. 

In 1869 in England, and a little later in America, a move- 
ment was begun to organize charity work, and the results 
that followed were so satisfactory that charity organiza- 
tion societies were rapidly formed. Societies of this kind, 
known as associated charities or united charities or the 
bureau of charities, exist in more than two hundred cities 
in the United States. 

Organized charity aims : 

1. To secure cooperation and unity of action among all 
charitable agencies, public and private. 

2. To learn the facts connected with every application 
for aid. 

3. To extend quick relief to all who are actually in need. 

4. To expose impostors. 

5. To find work for all who are able and willing to work. 

6. To establish relations of personal interest and sym- 
pathy between the poor and the well-to-do. 



404 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Questions on the Text 

1. To what extent lias charity in the past been regarded as a 
function of government? 

2. From what source does the power for alms-giving flow? 
Which of the governments is charged with administering charity? 

3. \Miat is meant by outdoor relief? indoor relief? What rea- 
sons may be given for and against outdoor relief? 

4. What provision is made for the defective classes? 

5. What is the duty of the State board of charity? 

6. What is the purpose of mothers' pensions? To what extent 
has the plan of mothers' pensions been adopted in the United States? 
Give reasons for a system of old-age pensions. What are the provi- 
sions of the federal Retirement Bill? 

7. What evils attend unorganized and unsystematic charity 
work ? 

8. What are the aims of organized charity work? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Does the constitution of this State say anything about 
charity? anything about pauperism? Are paupers permitted to vote 
in this State? 

2. What provision is made in this State for the defective classes, 
the deaf, the blind, the insane, the feeble-minded? 

3. Arrange the following causes of poverty according to the per- 
centage of paupers made by each: lack of employment, sickness, ac- 
cident, insufficient earnings, intemperance, shiftlessness, physical de- 
fects. If you are not able to secure the facts, use your judgment in 
making an arrangement. 

4. Name the charitable institutions of which you have knowl- 
edge. Are most of these supported by private liberality? 

5. If a street beggar should ask you for money, would you give 
him any? What is "scientific charity"? 

Topics for Special Work 

1. The Administration of Charities and Corrections: Goodnow and 

Bates, 316-334. 

2. Poverty and Pauperism: Ellwood, 299-335. 

3. The Problem of Pauperism: Dole, 148-157. 

4. Old- Age Pensions: Commons, 397-408. 



CRIME 

In the simplest and rudest stages of society wrong-doing was 
regarded as a private matter and the wrong-doer was punished by 
private hands. The murderer was delivered over to the vengeance of 
the family of which the slain was a member; the thief was punished 
by the person from whom the goods were stolen. As society grew 
to be more highly organized, and as the power of government in- 
creased, private vengeance was gradually disallowed and the punish- 
ment of crime became strictly a function of government. By what 
principles 'is government guided when it undertakes to define and 
punish crime? What crimes are punished by the State? To what 
extent does the federal government deal with crime? What policy 
does the government pursue in respect to the prevention of crime and 
the treatment of criminals? 

Definition of Crime. The first task of government in re- 
spect to criiD.e is to define crime, to declare what actions 
are criminal. A crime is an act injurious to society and 
punishable by law; but before an act can be regarded as 
a crime it must be stamped as such by government. An 
act may be vicious or sinful, and yet if it is not named 
by law as a punishable offense it is not a crime. 

As society becomes more complex the offenses designated 
by law as crimes become more numerous.^ The telegraph 
has brought the crime of tapping wires and stealing elec- 
tricity ; railroads have brought the crime of train-wrecking ; 
corporate combinations have caused penalties to be pro- 

1 The following table shows the nature of the offenses for which criminals 
in the United States are convicted and gives the percentage that each class 
of crime bears to the whole number committed : 

Crimes against government, as treason, counterfeiting, anarchy. ... 2.2 % 

Crimes against society, as disturbance of the peace, drunkenness 22 % 

Crimes against the person, as murder, assault, mayhem 21.9 % 

Crimes against property, as burglary, arson, theft 45.8 % 

Miscellaneous crimes 8.1 % 

Total ioO.OO 7o 

405 



406 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

nounced against an undue restraint of trade; the factory 
has called forth penalties against the criminal neglect of 
the safety of workingmen. "All changes in social organi- 
zation, in custom, in political control, import changes in 
the criminal law." Society is constantly defending itself 
against new dangers, and whenever an act of omission or 
commission is seen to be clearly hurtful to the public, it is 
designated by law as a crime. 

Punishment of Crime. When the law defines an act as 
a crime, it usually at the same time provides a punish- 
ment. In the olden times punishment followed the law 
of retaliation: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth 
for a tooth. For the crime of murder this rule still pre- 
vails in most countries, although in several States capital 
punishment has been abandoned. By modern usage punish- 
ments for crime are assigned without any purpose of re- 
taliation. The criminal is punished for the benefit of so- 
ciety, and not for the sake of private or public vengeance. 
What the punishment for a crime shall be is a question 
of expediency for the law to determine. In ordaining a 
punishment, however, it is the rule to make its severity 
correspond in some degree to the heinousness of the offense 
committed. When the form of punishment is not death, 
it is usually either a fine in money or imprisonment for a 
definite period of time. Excessive fines or cruel or unusual 
punishments cannot be inflicted by the federal government 
(142), but the State can provide such punishments as it 
deems proper, even if these seem to be cruel or unusual. 

Crime and the State Government. In the United States 
the dut}^ of defining crimes and affixing penalties and of 
punishing offenders belongs almost entirely to the State 
government. The constitution of the State generally al- 
lows the legislatures to deal with crime in their own way. 
In those States that have adopted the rules of the common 
law certain deeds are punishable as crimes without special 
legislative action. These are the comm_on law crimes, and 



CRIME 407 

include treason, murder, manslanghter, arson, larceny, 
burglary, kidnapping, assault, perjury, embezzlement. In 
a State that has not adopted the rules of the common law 
in reference to crime, before an act can be punished as 
criminal it must first be designated as such by a statute. 

Several decades ago, in a Western State that did not at 
the time recognize the rules of the common law in refer- 
ence to crime, a boy was kidnapped, and when the sub- 
ject of the punishment of the kidnapper arose it was found 
that the laws of the State in which the act was committed 
said nothing about kidnapping. The per^Dctrator of the 
deed was not discovered, but it was generally acknowledged 
that even if he had been captured it would not have been 
possible to punish him. The federal government could not 
have touched the case, and the State government had not 
3^et made the offense a crime. 

Since each State deals with crime in its own way, crim- 
inals fare differently in different States. ''The criminal 
code in one State in 1879 provided for the punishment of 
one hundred and fifty offenses as crimes, only one hundred 
and eight of which were recognized as crimes by the code 
of another State. . . . The penalty for perjury in one State 
is a fine limited between a minimum of five hundred dol- 
lars and a maximum of two thousand dollars; in others 
five years' imprisonment; in still others imprisonment for 
life ; and in one death, if the crime causes the execution of 
an innocent person. . . . The penalty for arson varies from 
imprisonment for from one to ten years to death. "^ In 
one State murder may be punishable by death and horse^ 
stealing by imprisonment for life; in an adjoining State 
horse-stealing may be punishable by death, and murder 
by imprisonment for life. 

While this diversity in the laws of the different States 
in respect to crime may seem regrettable, we must not jump 
to the conclusion that the definition and punishment of 
crime should be given to the federal government. In deal- 

1 H. M. Boies, The Science of Penology, p. 83, 



408 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

ing with crime, government is fighting with one of the foes 
of society, and the principle of local self-government, and 
the principle that a law to be effective must harmonize 
with the morality and sentiment of the community in which 
it is to be executed, both sustain the policy of letting each 
State fight its criminal foes in its own way. 

Crime and the Federal Government. While the State gov- 
ernment is the chief agent for suppressing crime, the federal 
government has a part in the work. Congress as well as 
the State legislature is constantly designating new crimes. 
Under the authority of the Constitution, Congress may de- 
fine and punish crimes in the District of Columbia, in the 
Territories, and in other places wholly within the jurisdic- 
tion of the federal government; it provides punishment 
for offenses relating to the post-office, to interstate com- 
merce, to the currency, to federal elections, and to all other 
matters that come within the scope of the federal jurisdic- 
tion. Congress also defines and punishes piracies com- 
mitted on the high seas and offenses against the laws of 
nations (54). 

There are no common-law crimes against the United 
States : only acts designated as crimes by Congress are pun- 
ishable in federal courts. A person charged with violating 
a federal statute must be tried in the State in which the 
act was committed (139), and is entitled to a speedy trial 
by a jury consisting of citizens of the State. 

Punishment for counterfeiting the securities and current 
coins of the United States is fixed by Congress (50). By 
"securities'^ is meant the government's bonds, its stamps, 
and other representatives of value. For counterfeiting 
gold and silver coin the punishment is a fine of not more 
than five thousand dollars, or imprisonment at hard labor 
for not more than ten years. For counterfeiting paper 
currency the punishment is still more severe. 

The highest crime known to the law is treason, which 
may be broadly defined as an attack upon government it- 



CRIME 409 

self. Under this broad definition in England and in other 
countries much injustice has been wrought. Men who have 
committed no crime other than to earn the displeasure of 
rulers have been charged with treason and put to death. 
To guard against evils of this sort the framers of the Con- 
stitution took the precaution of precisely defining what acts 
should be regarded as treasonable. To commit treason 
against the United States one must wage war against it 
(112) or give aid or comfort to its enemies.^ If there be an 
actual assemblage of men whose purpose is to proceed with 
force against the authority or property of the United 
States, each member of such an assemblage may be ad- 
judged a traitor. If a citizen — and no one but 'a citizen 
can be a traitor — sells a public enemy provisions or arms, 
he gives that enemy aid and comfort and is guilty of trea- 
son. As an additional safeguard against the abuse of 
power, the Constitution provides that at least two wit- 
nesses must testify to the treasonable act of which the ac- 
cused is charged (113). The punishment of treason 
against the United States (114) is death, or, at the discre- 
tion of the court, five years of imprisonment and a fine of 
not less than ten thousand dollars. A civil officer of the 
United States found guilty of treason by the process of 
impeachment is deprived of his office. 

Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Criminals. The 

criminal class in the United States numbers perhaps more 
than one per cent, of the total population, and it cannot 
be shown that the proportion is decreasing; indeed, able 
authorities assert that the proportion is increasing. This 
small but persevering and dangerous class has been pres- 
ent in all ages and in all countries, and governments have 
tried in vain to extirpate it. Law-makers, appealing to the 
emotion of fear, for a long time endeavored to decrease 
crime by making punishments for all kinds of offenses ex- 

1 Treason against a State is defined in the State constitutions, and the 
definition is usually identical with that given in the Constitution of the 
United States. 



410 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

tremely severe; but they found that severity of penalty 
would not solve the problem. Then the law-makers at- 
tempted to apply the principle of justice in the punishment 
of criminals; they adapted the punishment to the crime, 
affixing a slight penalty to a petty offense and ordaining a 
more severe punishment for a more flagrant deed. Still 
this did not solve the problem ; no scheme of punishments, 
however nicely adjusted, has as yet had the effect of de- 
creasing crime. 

In recent years we have been trying to prevent crime 
by removing its causes. It is recognized that crime is due 
in a large measure to an unfavorable environment, to bad 
company, to poverty, to the enervating influence of wealth 
and luxury, to crowded tenements, to the evil influences of 
cities, and philanthropists and statesmen are bending their 
efforts toward improving the environment that is respon- 
sible for crime. 

Furthermore, the mental attitude of the public toward 
criminals is changing. Formerly it was the universal opin- 
ion that a criminal was a foe to society, and that in meting 
out punishment to this foe the welfare of society alone 
should be regarded. Now in the adjustment of punish- 
ments there is a disposition to regard the welfare of the 
criminal as well as the welfare of society. It is contended 
that a criminal is a person who is afflicted with a disease, 
the disease of criminality, and that government ought to 
heal this disease if it can do so. ''Laws for the punish- 
ment of crime," says the constitution of Oregon, ''shall 
be founded on the principles of reformation, and not of 
vindictive justice." If the criminal cannot be healed, 
government must prevent him from running at large. If, 
however, the criminal is curable, he must be restored to 
society as soon as he recovers. A penitentiary, according 
to this doctrine, is simply a moral hospital where criminals 
are confined until they are cured of the disease of crim- 
inality. In conformity with this view, industrial schools, 
reformatories, and asylums are, for many offenses, taking 



CRIME 411 

the place of jails and penitentiaries, and indeterminate sen- 
tences — ^^sentences that detain the criminal only as long as 
he remains unreformed — are being substituted for commit- 
ments for arbitrary definite periods. 

In the case of juvenile delinquency great care is taken 
in most States to build up the character of the young of- 
fender so that his restoration to society may be complete 
and final. The young criminal is tried in a specially or- 
ganized juvenile court, and if found guilty he may be com- 
mitted to the supervision of a probation officer, or to the 
care of some industrial school; but he is not deprived 
wholly of his liberty. In some of the States the indus- 
trial schools established for juvenile offenders are not sur- 
rounded by walls, and are almost entirely free from bolts, 
bars, or other means of forcible restraint. At such insti- 
tutions the inmates work on the farm, make their own 
clothes and shoes, receive instruction in manual training, 
and in this way are fitted for self-support. 

Questions on the Text 

1. How was crime punished in the earlier stages of social develop- 
ment? 

2. Why is it necessary that the law should be constantly designat- 
ing new crimes? 

3. When affixing a punishment to a crime what purpose does the 
lawmaker have in view? What are the usual forms of punishment? 

4. Give an account of the functions of the State government in 
reference to crime. What are common-law crimes ? 

5. Illustrate how punishment for crime varies from State to 
State. 

6. What crimes are punishable by the federal government ? What 
is treason? How is it punished? 

7. What are some of the causes of crime? 

8. What new policy is being adopted in reference to the treat- 
ment of criminals? 

Suggestive Questions and Exercises 

1. Arrange the following causes of crime according to the percen- 
tage of criminals produced by each: had company, drink, poverty, 
temper, lack of moral principle, Tnental incapacity. If you are un- 
able to secure the statistics, use your judgment as to an arrange- 
ment. 



412 THE AMEKICAN DEMOCRACY 

2. What is the monej^ cost of crime in this State? 

3. Are you inclined to support the doctrine that the State in deal- 
ing with a criminal should entertain no idea of punishment; that it 
should simply treat the criminal as a sick person ? Give reasons for 
your answer. 

4. Does the constitution of this State say anything about crime? 
about punishments? What does the Constitution of the United 
States say about punishments (142)? Are those who have been 
convicted of crime in this State permitted to vote? 

5. What industrial schools, reformatories, and asylums are sup- 
ported in this State? Wliat is a juvenile court? 

6. What notable persons have been accused of treason in the 
United States? Has there ever been a conviction for treason? 

7. Prepare a five-minute paper on the Elmira Reformatory^ 

8. Is the violation of a police law always a crime? What is the 
difference between a crime and a misdemeanor? between a crime and 
a sin? 

Topics foe Special Woek 

1. The Definition of Crime: Ellwood, 326-329. 

2. The Causes of Crime : Ellwood, 335-340. 

3. The Juvenile Court: Reinsch, 199-206. 

4. Crime and Juvenile Inefficiency: Reinsch, 181-198. 

5. The Treatment of Crime: Dole, 130-147. 



LI 

URBAN AMERICA 

Thus far we have considered those functions of government that, 
for the most part, are general in character and that affect the nation 
throughout its whole extent. In every community, whether urban 
or rural, there is taxation and regulation of commerce and industry 
and education and an exercise of the police power. But in cities the 
local government, in order to solve problems peculiar to municipal 
life, has undertaken to render a number of services which we may 
regard as special municipal functions. In the present chapter some 
of the most important of these special functions of municipal gov- 
ernment will receive attention. 

Growth of Cities and Extension of Municipal Functions. 

The outstanding fact of modern society is that an in- 
creasingly large proportion of the total population of the 
civilized world is living an urban life. People are flock- 
ing to the cities in such numbers that the urban is growing 
faster than the rural population. This is true of nearly 
every country in the world, and is especially true of the 
United States. A hundred years ago America was rural; 
in recent years it has been rapidly becoming urban. In 
1880 about one sixth of the population of the United States 
lived in cities ; in 1890, about one fifth ; in 1900, about one 
fourth; in 1910, about one third; in 1920, about one half. 

As our cities have grown in size the problems of munici- 
pal government have become more numerous and more per- 
plexing. We have already learned that some of these prob- 
lems have been solved by reforms in municipal organization 
(p. 210). But municipal questions of immediate and press- 
ing importance relate not so much to forms of organization 
as to functions. ''What things shall our city government 
do? What services shall it undertake to render?" Of all 

413 



414 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

the questions that the urban voter is called upon to answer, 
this is the most practical and the most important. 

In determining the functions of the municipal govern- 
ment the tendency is to increase their number. As cities 
grow larger the wider is the range of municipal activity. 
A hundred years ago the chief concern of the municipal 
authorities was to preserve law and order : now the interest 
of the city fathers extends to the satisfaction of numerous 
social needs. It would be difficult to enumerate all the 
things done by a progressive municipality of to-day. The 
city government furnishes police protection; supports fire 
departments ; provides water supplies ; lights the street with 
gas or electricity, and paves and cleans them; constructs 
sewers; helps the poor and unfortunate; maintains a system 
of elementary and high schools ; preserves public health ; 
abates nuisances ; inspects food ; removes garbage ; supports 
parks, libraries, hospitals, and cemeteries; fosters music, 
literature, and art ; and provides and equips playgrounds 
for children. Of course, every city does not do all of these 
things, and it may be that no single city has done all of 
them at a given moment, for the whole matter of municipal 
functions is in a state of flux; yet this enumeration of 
possible services shows that the city government touches 
the lives of citizens at many points and administers to their 
needs in many ways. 

The Problem of Public Utilities. Foremost among the 
problems relating to municipal functions is one bearing 
upon the >subject of public utilities. By public utilities we 
mean those physical agencies by which water, gas, elec- 
tricity, heat and transportation are supplied to residents. 
Or, we might say simply that water, gas, electricity, heat, 
and transportation are public utilities. 

Public utilities are not free; they must be paid for by 
the people who make use of them. Their price, therefore, 
is a matter of vital importance to almost every inhabitant 
of the city. The price of a public utility depends in a 



URBAN AMERICA 415 

large measure upon whether the plant suppljang it is owned 
by the municipality or by a private person or corporation. 
If the plant is owned by the municipality, the utility m_ay 
be sold at cost; for the city is not compelled to make a 
profit on it. If the plant is owned by a private person or 
corporation, the utility must be sold at a profit ; for people 
who invest their money in the plant expect to reap a re- 
ward. So the public-utility question is this: Shall water, 
gas, electricity, and transportation be furnished by plants 
owned and operated by the city government, or by plants 
owned and operated by private persons or corporations ? 

In Great Britain and in several of the countries on the 
Continent municipal ownership of public utilities is general. 
For example, in Great Britain forty-two of the fifty largest 
cities own their street railways. In the United States mu- 
nicipal ownership has not been carried as far as it has 
been in Europe. Here water is the only public utility 
that is generally furnished by the municipality, although 
many cities own their electric-lighting plants and a con- 
siderable number of their gas plants. In the highlj?- im- 
portant matter of transportation little progress in the direc- 
tion of municipal ownership has been made. San Fran- 
cisco owns and operates a system of street railways, and 
in Cleveland the car lines are run on the principle that 
transportation belongs to the people and must be given to 
them at cost. Also in Seattle and Detroit the movement to- 
ward municipal ownership of street railways has made 
considerable headway. But these cities are exceptions; 
throughout the country at large street railways are owned 
and operated by private companies. 

In many places the sentiment for public ownership 
of transportation facilities is strong, but often the difficul- 
ties that lie in the way cannot be easily overcome. Usually 
the great stumbling-block is the franchise (p. 268). The 
friends of municipal ownership too often find that the 
streets are not virgin soil upon which the city can lay its 
tracks at will. They find that the streets in which traffic 



416 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

is greatest are already occupied by a private companj^ to 
which a franchise has been granted. This franchise may 
extend through a long period of time, — twenty, fifty, a 
hundred years, — yet until it shall expire the people are 
debarred from the use of their streets. For the franchise 
is held by virtue of a contract between its holder and the 
government granting it, and no legislature or city council 
can pass a law impairing the obligations of contracts (73). 

So the friends of municipal ownership must wait until 
the franchise expires. And then they will probably find 
that their battle has only begun. For the franchise may 
be worth many millions of dollars and its owners will 
almost certainly attempt to get its life extended, and in 
their fight for extension they will use every weapon at 
their command. They may even resort to bribery and 
corruption. Indeed, the franchise is the greatest source 
of scandal in municipal affairs. One of the strongest argu- 
ments in favor of municipal ownership is that it would 
do away with the franchise altogether, and thus remove 
the tap-root of municipal corruption. Assuming that the 
friends of municipal ownership have won their fight over 
the franchise, and that they have caused a system of mu- 
nicipal railways to be installed in their city, they will still 
have many difficulties to overcome. They will be opposed 
by powerful interests; obstacles will be thrown in their 
way by franchise seekers; and they will be lucky indeed 
if the railways do not go back into private hands. 

But the friends of municipal ov^Tiership need not de- 
spair. For, after all, the trend of affairs is favorable to 
their cause. "A study of the history of municipal public 
utilities," says Dr. F. J. Goodnow, "and the conditions 
under which private operation has given and is giving way 
to public operation can hardly fail to carry conviction that 
the sphere of direct municipal action is, in spite of op- 
position, gradually extending. Just as the reliance upon 
the individual property-owners for the discharge of such 
functions as paving and sweeping the streets has given 



URBAN. AMERICA 417 

way to public action, so has the supply of gas, electricity, 
and transportation been transferred from the individ- 
ual to the utility corporation, and now seems destined, 
whether for good or ill, to be transferred in turn to direct 
agencies of government." 

The Housing Problem. Closely linked with the transporta- 
tion problem is the housing problem. In every growing 
city there is a natural tendency toward overcrowding, and 
an unsatisfactory transportation system contributes to the 
congestion. "Workers must get to the place of their em- 
ployment speedily and cheaplj^ If the transportation 
system does not permit them to do this, they must secure 
a residence located near the establishment in which they 
work. For the sake of this proximity they will pay high 
rents, live in cramped quarters, and put up with incon- 
veniences. While everybody is thus trying to live in the 
same place, there is produced a congestion of population, 
which gives rise to the housing problem. 

In some cases the congestion could be relieved by quick 
and cheap transportation to the suburbs, where there is 
plenty of room and light and air. But not in all cases; 
the evils of overcrowding can not alwaj^s be remedied by 
improving transportation facilities. For in almost every 
large city there is a land problem to be dealt with. Within 
the city the high cost of land makes it impossible for a 
poor man to own his home or to rent a dwelling that is even 
fairly commodious. And the land problem extends be- 
yond the limits of the city. The poor man seeking a 
suburban home finds too often that most of the vacant 
land close to the city is in the hands of speculators, who 
have bought it not with the view of building homes upon 
it, but with the view of holding it while it rises in value. 
For the market value of land near a large city is apt to 
be constantly advancing in price. As long as the price 
is upward the owner of the vacant land prefers not to sell, 
unless at a very high rate. He does not care to build 



418 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

upon his land, because he figures that the soaring values 
of the vacant land will bring him more clear money than 
he would gain by building. He will sell lots, to be sure, 
to those who can afford to pay his prices; but to the poor 
man his prices are prohibitive. So neither in the city nor 
in the suburbs can the poor man find a decent home that 
he can call his O'wn. 

Inadequate transportation, excessive land values, and the 
rapid growth of city populations are the things that are 
chiefly responsible for the house shortage of which we hear 
so much in recent years. This shortage is alarming. It 
is a fact that in some of our cities there are not enough 
houses to shelter the people. Here is a municipal problem 
that is crying for a prompt solution. Public polic}^, to say 
nothing of the considerations of humanity, requires that 
people have proper homes in which to live. The backbone 
of a community is its home-loving citizens. The temper 
and loyalty of a people are affected profoundly by living 
conditions. 

The first sure symptom of a mind in health 
Is rest of heart, and pleasure felt at home. 

The housing problem will hardly solve itself. It doubt- 
less will have to be taken up with a firm hand by the 
government and dealt with in a serious manner. A report 
of an investigation into housing conditions in the city 
of Cleveland hits the nail on the head when it says: ''We 
are forced to the conclusion that the housing problem can 
not be solved by private building enterprises under exist- 
ing financial conditions; that the securing of adequate 
housing for workers is one of the fundamental problems 
upon which should be exerted all the social and economic 
forces of the communitj^ If workmen are to come to our 
city to man our industries, it is apparent that they must 
be bound by other means than those to which we have 
hitherto resorted. Either the community or the govern- 
ment must come to the rescue and provide homes that are 



URBAN AMERICA 419 

within the range of price that the worker can rent or 
purchase, or through some control of resources make it 
possible to provide comfortable living accommodations for 
himself and family." 

The shortage in houses is only one of the aspects of the 
housing problem. Bad housing conditions must be dealt 
with. The unsanitary tenement must be made sanitary. 
The dilapidated house must either be torn down or rendered 
fit for human habitation. Above all, the slum must be de- 
stroyed. The slum is a spreading cancer in the municipal 
body, and the foul thing should be removed by the sharp 
knife of the law, and the excision should be complete. In 
dealing with bad housing conditions the police power 
(p. 384) may be invoked, and it should be used in drastic 
fashion. For investigation in a score of cities has shown 
that bad housing is the root and source of a vast amount 
of disease, crime, and juvenile delinquency. 

City Planning. With the view of avoiding the evils of bad 
housing, municipal reformers in recent years have been 
urging the necessity of directing the development of a city 
according to a well considered plan. Ordinarily cities have 
grown helter-skelter, like Topsy. But city planning pro- 
vides that the city shall be built according to a precon- 
ceived scheme, or plan, which shall include streets, parks, 
play-grounds, transportation, markets, and the regulation 
of the height and use of buildings. If municipal develop- 
ment should proceed in accordance with such a precon- 
ceived plan the population would be assured of healthful 
housing conditions, the best means of communication be- 
tween the different parts of the city would be established, 
the best architectural effects would be achieved, and many 
of the ugly and unwholesome features of city life would 
be erased. From the nature of things, city planning is a 
reform that is practicable on an extensive scale only in 
small cities that are just starting on the road to a larger 
growth. The most conspicuous instance in the United 



420 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

States of the deliberate planning of a large city is our 
beautiful national capital. City planning is receiving the 
favorable attention of law-makers, and in a number of 
States city planning commissions have been created by 
law. 

Municipal Recreation. City planning that is wisely con- 
ceived will make ample provisions for popular amusement 
and recreation. In the case of young people the impulse 
for sport is irresistible. But in a large city there is no suit- 
able place where children may play in the right way unless 
a play-ground is specially set apart for them. This fact 
is receiving recognition and the movement for municipal 
play-grounds is nation-wide. In some States, as in Cali- 
fornia and Idaho, the law specifically authorizes the main- 
tenance of play-grounds at public expense. In a number 
of cities there have been created recreation commissions 
whose duty is to direct and supervise the municipal play- 
grounds. Thus to provide means of recreation for the 
young is becoming a regularly exercised function of munici- 
pal government. 

In our plans for municipal recreation adults should not 
be overlooked: for not by bread alone does man live. His 
spirit yearns for the buoyancy that comes with amusement. 
Now that we have the eight-hour day, workers have more 
leisure than they have ever had before. What shall they 
do with this leisure? Public policy demands that they be 
given an opportunity to spend a portion of their idle 
time at games and sports and feats of strength. That is 
to say, there should be public athletic grounds, gymnasi- 
ums, and swimming-pools, so that the leisure of workers 
may be consumed in a wholesome manner. If this oppor- 
tunity is denied it may be that Satan will direct the activi- 
ties of the idle hours, with the result that increased leisure 
will mean increased vice and crime. But divert the idle 
hours with legitimate and healthful forms of recreation, 
and crime will be decreased. Wherever a recreation center 



(IIfP»AN AMlGi:i(!A 421 

is nsjablished in ji, conuriiiiiily, iJiciv^ is ;i. surprising falling 
olT of arreHlH amon^ juvenile. (IdiiMiMents. " liocrcalJon," 
sjiy.s Miss ^]nnv, Adjirus, "is sd'onj^cr lliau vice and rcc.rca- 
tior) alone, ea.n sl,ifl<' llie Insl, for il. " 

Community or Civic Center. Anoilier apjency for iililiz- 

iiiji; llic; leisure of eily dwellers aiul direeliiie; jJieir enere:ies 
lovvaj'd belier iJiin^^s is I, lie eoniiMiiuily or eivie e,enl,ei*. 
This is an or^^anizaJion eorriposed of all adull, (til,i/,(uis liv- 
ing;' within Ihe houndaries of a, eerlain neifji'lihorhood oi- 
coiiiniiniily. The loeie;il eenlcr of Ihe eoiurriiniily «;'ronp is 
iJie sehool-lionse, Tor this hnildiri'^' is Ihe prop(n-|,y of ih(^ 
|)eopl(i, and ils local, ion is usually eonvenienl, [or all l-h(^ 
niemhers of Ihe eotrnnunily eeiil.er. So Tar is I, his l,ru(*. thai 
ill ( laliForiiia, Indiana, Illinois, and in oilier Slates, ev(M*y 
piiblie school is by law dech-ired lo he a eivie center-. The 
nnderlyin^- [)urpose ol" tli(^ coirnriunily c(!iiter is to j^ive to 
lh(^ fx'ople of a, nei^hhorfiood an opportunity to meet and 
discuss public aJTairs. It is thus a, little democraey, ;iiid in 
a sense is a revival of the New l*]ii<;larid town meeting' (p. 
IDH). 

Two benenis of priceless value (low I'rom tln^ coniriiiinity 
center. In the first j)laee, it cre;ites a, spirit of nei|4'hbor- 
liness. In la,r«,'e cities this spirit is orteri non-nxiHteiit. 
I'eople live n(;xt door to each other for years without even 
so mucfi as speaUinj,^ to each other. The result is that tlic 
city man is sometimes a,s far removed I'r-om social inter- 
course as is the hermit on the lonely seashore. Ot course, 
such solitude is anti social in its elTcct. An eminent pliil- 
osopfier (Iluxleyj has said that in ;i crowded city a eivil- 
i/ed man may easily be(*ome a, savaec, by reason ol iin iso- 
bited existence. At tln^ community center peoph^ liecomc 
acfpiaiiitcd with one another and learn to like? one juiollier 
and fiecome neirrhbors in fact as well as in nani(\ In tlie 
second pla,cf!, tin; community center makes for a more vi^^or 
OUH democracy. It was at such iii<ctin|^'H that democ^-acy 
had its birth (p. 17 j. And it may be th;it the discMissions 



422 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

and speeclies and debates in thousands of little community 
centers will give a new meaning to popular government and 
a new measure of happiness to the American nation. 

Questions on the Text 

1. Give an account of modern urban growth and of the extent of 
municipal functions. 

2. Name the leading public utilities. What is the principal ques- 
tion involved in the ownership of a public utility ? To what extent 
is there public ownership in the United States ? Show how the fran- 
chise is a most important factor in public-utility problems. 

3. What leads to overcrowding in cities? Show that land plays 
an important part in the housing problem. In what w^ay is it likely 
that the housing problem will have to be solved? 

4. What does systematic city planning undertake to do? 

5. Why should opportunity for recreation be provided by the 
municipal authorities ? 

6. What is a community center? What benefits may be derived 
from community centers? 

SuGGESTmE Questions and Exebcises 

1. Prepare a chart showing graphically the percentage of urban 
population in the United States at each decennial census. 

2. In a list of one hundred of the largest cities of the world, how 
many of the cities are in the United States? 

3. Enumerate the functions of the government of the municipality 
in which you live. What things are done by your city government 
that ought to be done by private enterprise? What things are done 
by private enterprise in this city that ought to be done by the mu- 
nicipal government? 

4. Has this city a public-utility problem? Are public utilities in 
the city in the hands of the municipality? 

5. Do the laws of the State permit a municipality to operate 
street railways ? If so, in what cities in the State is there municipal 
ownership of the street railways? 

6. Are housing conditions in this city satisfactory? If not, what 
reforms are desirable? 

7. If your city should undertake the operation of all its public 
utilities, by whom would the movement be supported? By whom 
would it be opposed? 

8. Is there a city planning commission in this State? If so, give 
an account of its powers. Should the policy of cit}^ planning be 
adopted in this city? 

9. Give an account of municipal recreations in this city; of the 
community centers. 

10. Describe the organization and purpose of any civic society of 
which vou may have knowledge. Are you a member of any society 
of this' kind ? 



URBAN AMERICA 423 

Topics for Special Wobk 

1. Character of City Populations: Goodnow and Bates, 25-43. 

2. The Problem of the City: Ellwood, 275-298. 

3. The Health of the City: Zueblin, 326-358. 

4. The Housing Problem: Howe, 273-288. 

5. The City and the Public Service Corporation: Howe, 272-288. 

6. Social Centers: Zueblin, 252-270. 

7. City Planning: Zueblin, 326-358. 



LII 
RURAL AMERICA 

Having considered some of the problems connected with urban 
America, we may pass now to the subject of rural America, and 
learn of the conditions that surround rural life and the measures 
that have been taken by the government to make the farm an effec- 
tive industrial unit and to solve the problems of the country-side. 

Decline of the Rural Population. In the all-important 
matter of population we find a condition in rural America 
that is just the opposite of that which prevails in urban 
America. In the case of cities the tendency is toward an 
increase of population; in the agricultural area the tend- 
ency is toward a decrease. "Canals," says L. H. Bailey, 
''railroads, telegraphs, postal routes, have drained the coun- 
try into the city. Wealth has been piled up at the termi- 
nals, which are the trading-places, until society has become 
ganglionic in its organization." This movement of the 
population toward the city is apparent, to a greater or less 
extent, in almost every section of the United States. It is 
especially apparent in the East. Rural communities in 
some parts of New England have a smaller population than 
they had one hundred years ago, while in most of the rural 
counties of the State of New York there is a decline in 
population. 

In those regions where a decline in the rural popula- 
tion is clearly seen agriculture itself is on the decline. 
As the region is depleted of its inhabitants, methods of 
tillage become more primitive and farming becomes a de- 
cadent occupation. This flow of population away from ag- 
ricultural districts, therefore, is a matter of deep public 
concern. For agriculture is our basic industry, and must 

424 



RURAL AMERICA 425 

continue to be our basic industry; and anything that 
undermines agriculture undermines the very structure of 
the American nation. 

Conditions of Rural Life. Why is the tide flowing toward 
the city? Why is the country being depleted of its popu- 
lation? The answer is to be found, of course, in the con- 
ditions prevailing in rural districts. Broadly speaking, 
men leave the country and seek a home in the city because 
urban conditions of living are more attractive than rural 
conditions. In the fields the hours of labor are long, the 
toil is severe, and the day is apt to be spent in solitude, 
without companionship and without cheer. Then, the civil- 
ization of the country is crude compared with that of 
the city. Rural comforts and conveniences are few, while 
amusements and diversions are lacking. The result is that 
life in the country seems flat and monotonous. In the city 
it is far different. Here the hours of labor are shorter, 
toil seems lighter, companions are always near at hand, 
comforts and conveniences of every kind may be enjoyed, 
amusements of all sorts are provided, and existence in gen- 
eral seems to be full of delight and charm. So, led away 
by the glare of the city, the countryman abandons the dull, 
gray life of the farm. 

Since this drainage of the country into the city is due 
chiefly to the forbidding conditions of rural life, the move- 
ment to the city can be checked only by improving the en- 
vironment of rural dwellers. If workers are to be kept 
on the farm in numbers sufficient to feed the nation, the 
country-side must be made so attractive that the bright 
lights of the city will fail to allure. Rural conditions must 
undergo such a betterment that farming as an occupation 
will be just as agreeable and just as profitable as any occu- 
pation on earth. ''Our civilization," said Theodore Roose- 
velt, ''rests at bottom on the wholesomeness, the attractive- 
ness, and the completeness, as well as the prosperity, of life 
in the country." How can rural conditions be so trans- 



426 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

formed that the country as an abiding-place will compete 
successfully with the city ? It is in the answer to this ques- 
tion that the rural problem will find its solution. 

The Federal Government and the Farmer. In the great 
work of improving rural conditions the federal government 
is a powerful agency. The vast importance of the farm 
has been recognized by our national law-makers, and com- 
prehensive measures have been taken by Congress for the 
advancement of agriculture. 

Foremost among governmental agencies working for the 
benefit of the farmer is the federal Department of Agricul- 
ture. We have already learned of the services rendered 
by this department in connection with the conservation of 
our natural resources (p. 353). But conservation is only 
one of the interests of the great department. Its numerous 
bureaus and offices touch agriculture at every point and 
assist the farmer in almost every situation. Its Bureau of 
Soils studies the physical and chemical property of soils 
with the view of instructing the farmer in the fertility of 
his land and giving him valuable hints as to the use of 
fertilizers and the rotation of crops. Its Bureau of Plant 
Industry studies plant life in its relation to agriculture, 
making researches into the diseases of plants and discover- 
ing methods of curing and warding off such diseases. Its 
Bureau of Animal Industry investigates the nature of com- 
municable diseases dangerous to live stock, and takes 
measures for their extirpation. Its Bureau of Entomology 
studies insect life with the view of discovering what insects 
are beneficial to the farmer and what are injurious. Its 
Bureau of Biological Survey studies the geographical dis- 
tribution of animals and plants, and investigates the eco- 
nomic relations of birds and mammals, recommending meas- 
ures for the preservation of beneficial and the destruction 
of injurious species. Its Weather Bureau, besides making 
forecasts of the weather for the benefit of sailors and those 
who dwell on the seashores, gives to farmers also timely 



RURAL AMERICA 427 

warning of approaching storms, frosts, and floods. Its 
Bureau of Crop Estimates, assisted by more than 150,000 
volunteer observers scattered over the country, collects 
facts as to growing crops, and makes estimates of the prob- 
able yield that may be expected, thus giving the farmer a 
useful hint both as to prices and as to the acreage that may 
be wisely devoted to this or that crop. Its Office of Markets 
and Bural Organization makes a study of cooperative or- 
ganization among farmers for the purpose of extending 
such organization more widely, and spreads information 
regarding uniform methods in the marketing and distribu- 
tion of farm products. Its Division of Publications sends 
out every year to farmers in all parts of the country mil- 
lions and millions of pamphlets and bulletins containing 
information pertaining to every branch of agriculture. 

A great deal of the work of the Department of Agricul- 
ture is of a scientific character and is done in laboratories 
in the city of Washington, the results of the investigations 
of the laboratory being published and distributed broad- 
cast to those who want them. But many of the activities 
of the Department are entirely practical in character and 
are of direct assistance to the farmer. Specialists in road 
construction are sent hither and thither by the Bureau ^ of 
Public Roads and Rural Engineering to give instruction 
in the best methods of building highways (p. 332). 
Through its Office of Experiment Stations the Department 
assists experiment stations all over the country in their 
investigations of local agricultural conditions and in their 
efforts to discover the most profitable methods of tilling and 
improving the soil. The States Relation Service has charge 
of an elaborate plan of extension work in agriculture and 
home economics, which is provided for in the Smith-Lever 
Act of 1914 and which involves the cooperation of the fed- 
eral department with State agricultural colleges. 

The head and front of the extension work is the county 
agent, who acts as a joint representative of the local com- 
munity, the State college, and the federal department. 



428 THE AMERICAN DEMOCEACY 

The county agent spends a large part of his time with the 
farmers in their fields and barns. He talks to farmers at 
their meetings; he shows them how the soil may be best 
prepared for planting ; he gives them advice as to the proper 
use of fertilizers; he instructs them in business methods: 
he organizes them for purposes of cooperative effort. One 
of his duties is to organize boys and girls into clubs for 
the competitive growing of crops, the raising of pigs and 
poultry, and the canning of vegetables. Women county 
agents, or home demonstration agents, supplementing the 
efforts of the regular county agent, carry the extension 
work into the rural home and instruct the wives of the 
farmers in the elements of home economics, teaching them 
useful lessons relating to diet, the conservation of food 
and clothing, the purchase of household supplies, and 
other matters relating to household economy. 

Another federal agency established for the promotion 
of agriculture is the system of Farm Loan Banks, which 
reaches intimately into the rural districts and operates on 
terms suited to the needs of farmers. Before this system 
was established (in 1916) farmers were at a disadvantage 
in the matter of credit; they could not borrow money on 
terms as favorable and with as much freedom as it could 
be borrowed by those engaged in manufacturing or com- 
mercial enterprises. But the Farm Loan Bank puts farm- 
ers on an equality with all other persons having genuine as- 
sets for security. Any owner of a farm needing money for 
certain purposes connected with farming may borrow from 
a Farm Loan Bank for a long term at a low rate of interest 
and pay off his debt in small equal annual instalments. 
For example, if a farmer needs a thousand dollars with 
which to build a barn, he can borrow the money and arrange 
to repay it, principal and interest, in equal fixed sums dur- 
ing a period not shorter than five years nor longer thati 
fifty years. If, at any time after five years, he wishes to 
make larger payment on the loans and thus pay off the 
debt more quickly, he is permitted to do so. 



RURAL AMERICA 429 

The State Government and the Farmer. The federal 
government does not work alone in its efforts to improve 
the condition of the farmer, for in every State there is an 
administrative agency of some kind devoted to agriculture. 
In about half the States this agency is a regularly organ- 
ized department of agriculture, the head of which is usually 
appointed by the governor, although in some cases he is 
elected by the voters of the State. In States that have no 
regularly organized department of agriculture, the organ- 
ization devoted to the farmers' interest is a board or a 
society that concerns itself, in one way or another, with the 
exploitation of the agricultural resources of the State, and 
that carries out plans for the holding of conventions and 
fairs. In some cases, as in Michigan, and Colorado, the 
board of agriculture manages the affairs of the State agri- 
cultural college. 

Upon the State department of agriculture rests the duty 
of caring for the peculiar needs of the farmers within the 
State. The functions of the State agency, therefore, are 
local rather than national in character and scope. In some 
cases these functions are performed in a satisfactory and 
praiseworthy manner, the State department of agriculture 
being generously supported, well organized, and alert in 
its efforts to improve rural conditions. In not a few cases, 
however, the State deals with its agricultural problems in 
a careless, haphazard manner. This neglect is due too often 
to the fact that the State relies upon the department at 
Washington to do the things it ought itself to do. Such 
an attitude of reliance is contrary to the spirit of our po- 
litical system. Farmers ought not to ask the federal gov- 
ernment to render services that can be rendered best by 
local institutions. 

The farmer is assisted not only by an administrative 
department of the State government, but also by educa- 
tional agencies that are either supported by the State or 
established by its authority. In more than 2,500 high 
schools pupils are given elementary instruction in farming. 



430 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

In about 70 State agricultural colleges, more than 100,- 
000 students receive scientific instruction in agriculture. 
At some of our State universities, as at Cornell IJniversity 
and the universities of Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, 
Iowa, and California, the work done in agricultural sub- 
jects is on an extensive scale and is of a highly practical 
character. 

The Local Government and the Parmer. We have now 
learned that the federal government, and in most cases the 
State government also, are active in their efforts to help 
the farmer. What does the locality do for the farmer? 
What are the distinct agricultural functions of the county 
and of the township? Oddly enough, when we make a 
survey of rural America throughout its whole extent, we 
find that neither the county government nor the township 
government contributes very much either to the promotion 
of agriculture or to the solution of rural problems. There 
are exceptions here and there, it is true, but generally 
the very governments that are closest to the farmer are 
doing the least for the betterment of rural conditions. 
Aside from the management of the district schools and the 
care of the roads, the rural political organization has few 
functions that are of vital importance to a farming com- 
munity. In some States even the care of the roads is be- 
ing transferred from the locality to the State (p. 331). 

It would seem, then, that the rural governments ought 
to have more power; that in planning for the administra- 
tion of the county and township the laws ought to give 
these civil divisions sufficient authority to deal with all 
rural problems in an effective manner. For the country- 
side, no less than the city, has problems that require the 
attention of government. The country has its slums ; often 
it has surface conditions that produce disease; it has need 
for hospital facilities, for public libraries, for amusements 
and popular diversions. In truth, rural problems in many 
respects are identical with urban problems. Yet the unin- 



RURAL AMERICA 431 

corporated rural commiinitj^ is scantily supplied with au- 
thorit}^ to deal with its questions, while the incorporated 
place is given power with a lavish hand. 

Still, it is by no means certain that a mere augmentation 
of the pov/ers of the rural governments would go far to- 
ward making the country-side the place it must be if the 
rural problem is to be really solved. For the trouble in- 
volves not only the question of power but the question of 
territorial jurisdiction. A painstaking study of the struc- 
ture of rural society seems to show that the lines that bound 
the township are not, as a rule, the lines that bound a dis- 
tinct rural community unit, a community knit together 
by social and economic ties. Yet rural society is made up 
of distinct community units. At the center of the unit 
is a village (or city). Surrounding this village or civic 
center is an irregularly shaped farming district, the outer 
edge of which is the boundary of the community. The 
farmers living within the community trade at the civic 
center, have their banking interests there, attend church 
there, patronize the high school there, and secure their 
reading matter from the public library there. That is to 
say, the commercial, the financial, the religious, the educa- 
tional, and the intellectual interests of the farmers are 
focused at the civic center. In turn, too, the interests of 
the inhabitants of the village are inextricably bound up with 
the interests of the rural zone. So we may say that the 
farming district and civic center, taken together, constitute 
a rural community unit, in the true sense of the term. 

Students of rural life have suggested that existing town- 
ship lines be erased and that a new political division be 
created, the boundaries of the new division to be conter- 
minous with the natural rural community unit. Mr, C. 
J. Galpin would call this unit a borough. "The rural 
borough," he says, "shall be the basal unit of rural struc- 
ture of community scale and character, standing above 
the family unit and above the neighborhood unit, and con- 
sisting of both the business center and the land founda- 



432 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

tion. This business center is the borough town. The land 
foundation is borough land." Such a reorganization, it is 
contended, would give rural America a political instrument 
that would enable the people of the town and the people 
of the country to work together for the advancement of 
the common good. For, where an urban, community and 
a farming district are held firmly together by social and 
economic ties, the interest of townsmen and the interests 
of the farmers are inseparable. 

Farmers' Associations. Since local governments, as con- 
stituted at present, do not readily lend themselves to the 
betterment of rural conditions, the farmer must rely 
largely upon voluntary organization for the protection and 
promotion of his interests and the development of the 
country-side. Taken as a body^ the farmers of the nation 
have been active in forming organizations for mutual profit 
and improvement. The Farmers' Alliance has a member- 
ship of several millions. In about 8,000 communities 
there are Granges, comprised of farmers organized for 
social and educational purposes as well as for the advance- 
ment of agriculture. In thousands of communities, too, 
there are held regularly Farmers' Institutes, which serve 
as clearing-houses for the exchange of knowledge bearing 
upon the occupation of farming and which give to millions 
of farmers an opportunity to hear popular lectures. Then 
in many a locality there is a rural social center or a country 
church which strengthens the bonds of social union and 
fosters the spirit of democracy. 

These volunteer associations are replete with hope and 
promise. They show that the farmer is relying upon him- 
self ; that he has within himself the personal starting-power 
and enthusiasm that are indispensable to a successful solu- 
tion of the problems of rural life. Rural America will 
be made as attractive as urban America, not by those who 
live in the city, but by the farmers themselves. For only 
the farmer can discern the real needs of a rural community. 




Village or c/ty CEnTER Mi Trade: at one: ctriTCR 

Trade at rv/o Of? more ce/iters I I Trade outside the couiity 

TRADE COMMUNITIES 

Map of Walworth Co., Wisconsin, showing that the villages and cities of the county- 
serve as trade centers for the farm homes precisely as for the village and city houses, 
and that all the homes trading at the same center form a trade community. See C. J. 
Galpin's Rural Life, p. 74. 



RURAL AMERICA 433 

*'I want to see/' says Dr. Bailey, "the development of a 
virile and effective rural society ; and I know such a society 
can come as the result of forces arising out of the country 
as a natural experiment of the country itself, not as a re- 
flection or transplanting of city institutions. The country 
must develop its own ideals and self-respect. . . . The 
countryman needs more social life; but his entertainment 
and contentment must come largely out of his occupation 
and his content with nature, not from mere extraneous at- 
tractions. ' ' 

Questions on the Text 

1. To what extent is our rural population declining? Why is 
this decline a cause of regl-et? 

2.' Contrast rural living conditions with urban conditions. State 
the rural problem. 

3. Sketch briefly the services of the federal Department of Agri- 
culture. What are some of the direct, practical things done by the 
department? Give an account of the services of the county agent. 
In what way are farmers helped by the Farm Loan Banks? 

4. What is done by the State for the promotion of agriculture? 

5. What can you say of the services rendered by the local govern- 
ments for the betterment of rural life? What reform in the local 
government has been suggested? Upon what idea is the proposed 
reform based? 

6. To what extent have farmers organized for the promotion of 
their interests? 

Suggestive Questions and Exeecises 

(For students in rural communities) 

1. Are the towns in this county growing in population? Is the 
farming population in this county increasing? 

2. Do men who work on the farms in this county receive as good 
a wage as those who work in the towns? 

3. Make a map of this county showing the boundaries of the trade 
communities. Prepare another map showing the communities that 
are areas of high school attendance. Prepare still another map 
showing the communities that are the areas of church attendance. 
Compare the boundaries of the communities on each map and discover 
to what extent the communities are conterminous. 

4. If you live in a township, compare the township boundaries 
with the boundaries of the social and economic community imit in 
which you live. 

5. In North Carolina the farmers of a community are given the 
right of associating together in a legal way with the privileges of a 



434 THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

municipalitv. Would you ask the rame riqht for the farmers of this 
State? 

A hint on reading. For the subject, of Rural America, read C. J. 
Galpin's Rural Life. x 



A^,' 



APPENDIX A 



THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 
THE CONSTITUTION 

OP THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a 1 
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic 
Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote 
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty 
of ourselves and our Prosperity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I 

Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall con- 2 
sist of a Sena;:e and House of Representatives. 

Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be com- 
posed of Members chosen every second Year by the People 3 
of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall 
have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most 4 
numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have 
attained to the age of twenty-five Years, and had been seven 5 
Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, 
when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he 6 
shall be chosen. 

435 



436 APPENDIX 

Eepresentatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned 
among the several States which may be included within this 

7 Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall 
be determined by adding to the whole Number of free 
Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of 

8 Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all 
other Persons ^ The actual Enumeration shall be made 
within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress 

9 of the United States, and within every subsequent Term 
of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. 

10 The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for 
every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least 
one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 

11 chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six. 
New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Mary- 
land six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five. South Carolina 
five, and Georgia three. 

12 When vacancies happen in the Representation from any 
State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs 
of Election to fill such Vacancies. 

13 The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker 

14 and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Im- 
peachment. 

15 Sect'ION 3. The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
posed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legis- 
lature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have 
one Vote.^ 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Conse- 
qu.enee of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally 
as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of 
the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the 
second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the 

1 The clause in italics superseded by the 13th and 14th Amendments. 

2 This paragraph was superseded by the 17th Amendment. 



APPENDIX 437 

fourth Year, and of the third Class at the^ Expiration of 
the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every 16 
second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or 
otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any 
State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Ap- 
pointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which 17 
shall then fill such Vacancies. 

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained 
to the age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a citizen 18 
of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be 19 
chosen. 

The Vice President of the United States shall be Presi- 
dent of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be 20 
equally divided. 

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a 
President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice Presi- 21 
dent, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of 
the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeach- 
ments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on 
Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United 
States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And no Per- 22 
son shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two 
thirds of the Members present. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend fur- 
ther than to removal from Office, and disqualification to 
hold and enjoy any Office of honor. Trust or Profit under 
the United States: but the Party convicted shall neverthe- 
less be liable and subject to indictment. Trial, Judgment 
and Punishment, according to Law. 

Section 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elec- 
tions for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed 
in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress 24 
may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, 
except as to the Places of chusing Senators. 



438 APPENDIX 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, 

25 .and such Meeting shall be on the first jMonday in December, 

unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day. 

26 Section 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, 
Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Ma- 

27 jority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do business; 
but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and 
may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent 
Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each 
House may provide. 

28 Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, 
punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the 

29 Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. 

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and 
from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts 
as may in their Judgment require Secrecy ; and the Yeas 
and Nays of the Members of either House on any question 

30 shall, at the desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered 
on the Journal. 

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, 

31 without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the 
two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive 

32 a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by 
Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. 
They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach 

33 of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their At- 
tendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in 
going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech 
or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned 
in any other Place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for 

34 which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under 
the Authority of the United States, which shall have been 
created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been en- 



APPENDIX 439 

creased during such time ; and no Person holding any Office 35 
under the United States, shall be a Member of either House 
during his Continuance in Office. 

Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in 36 
the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose 
or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. 

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Repre- 37 
sentatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, 
be presented to the President of the United States; If he 
approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with 38 
his Objections, to that House in which it shall have origi- 
nated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their 
Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Recon- 
sideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass 39 
the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to 
the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, 
and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall be- 40 
come a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses 
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the Names of 
the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be en- 
tered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any 
Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days 4X 
(Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to 
him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had 
signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment pre- 
vents its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. 

Every Order, Resolution, ^ or Vote to which the Concur- 42 
rence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be 43 
necessary (ex'cept on a question of Adjournment) shall be 
presented to the President of the United States ; and before 
the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or 
being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to 
the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. 

1 Resolutions of Congress proposing amendments to the Constitution do 
not require the assent of the President. 



440 APPENDIX 

44 Section 8. The Congress shall have Power to lay and col- 
lect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts 

45 and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare 
of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises 
shall be uniform throughout the United States; 

46 To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 

47 To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among 
the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

48 To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and 
uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies ^ throughout 
the United States; 

49 To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign 
Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; 

50 To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the 
Securities and current Coin of the United States; 

51 To establish Post Offices and post Roads ; 

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by 

52 securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the 
exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discov- 
eries ; ^ 

53 To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court ; 

54 To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed 
on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations ; 

55 To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, 
and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water ; 

1 A bankrupt law enables a person who is unable to pay all his debts to 
divide what property he has among his creditors proportionately and to be 
discharged from legal obligation to make further payment. Congress has 
absolute power in the matter of bankruptcy, but it has not exercised this 
power continuously. The present bankrupt law was passed in 1898. In 
the absence of legislation by Congress the State regulates the subject of 
bankruptcy. 

2 An author may secure a copyright on a book by sending to the librarian 
of Congress at Washington a copy of the title-page and two copies of the 
book on or before the day of publication. The copyright gives an exclusive 
right to sell for twenty-eight years, a period which upon application may 
be extended twenty-eight years. A patent secures to an inventor the 
exclusive right to manufacture and sell his invention for seventeen years. 
Patents are secured by sending to the Commissioner of Patents at Wash- 
ington a working model of the thing invented. 



APPENDIX 441 

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of 56 
Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two 
Years ; 

To provide and maintain a Navy ; 57 

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of 58 
the land and naval Forces ; 

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the 59 
Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel In- 
vasions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the 
Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be 
employed in the Service of the United States, reserving 
to the States respectively the Appointment of the officers, 
and the Authority of training the Militia according to the 60 
discipline prescribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatso- 
ever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) 
as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Accep- 
tance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government and 
of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over 62 
all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of 
the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of 
Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock- Yards, and other need- 
ful Buildings; — And 

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper 63 
for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all 
other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Govern- 
ment of the United States, or in any Department or Officer 
thereof. 

[Section 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons 
as any of the States now existing shall think proper to 
admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the 
Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax 
or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceed- 
ing ten dollars for each Person.] ^ 

1 This clause has no longer any significance. 



442 APPENDIX 

64 The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be 
suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion 
the public Safety may require it. 

65 No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 

66 No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless 
in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before 
directed to be taken. 

67 No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from 
any State. 

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Com- 

68 merce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of 
another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be 
obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. 

69 No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Con- 
sequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular 

70 Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures 
of all public Money shall be published from time to time. 

71 No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United 
States : And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust 
under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, 
accept of any present. Emolument, Office, or Title, of any 
kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. 

72 Section 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alli- 
ance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Re- 
prisal ; coin Money ; emit Bills of Credit ; make any Thiiig 
but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; 

73 pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law im- 
pairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title 
of Nobility. 

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay 

74 any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what 
may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection 

75 Laws : and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid 
by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the LTse 
of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws 
shall be subject to the Revision and Control of Congress. 



APPENDIX 443 

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any 
Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time 76 
of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with an- 
other State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War 77 
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as 
will not admit of delay. 



ARTICLE II 

Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a Presi- 78 
dent of the United States of America. He shall hold his 
Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with 79 
the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, 
as follows 

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legisla- 80 
ture thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the 
whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which 81 
the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator 
or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or 
Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an 
Elector. 

[The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and 

vote by ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall 82 

not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. 

And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, 

and of the Number of Votes for each ; which List they shall 

sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the 

Government of the United States, directed to the President 

of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the 

Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open 

all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. 

The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be 

the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole 83 

I Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than 

I one who have such a Majority, and have an equal Number 

i of Votes, then the House of Reoresentatives shall immedi- 



444 APPENDIX 

ately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if 
no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on 
the List the said Hciise shall in like Manner chuse the Presi- 
dent. But in chnsing the President, the Votes shall be 
taken by States, the Representation from each State having 

84 one Vote; A quorum for the Purpose shall consist of a 
Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a 
Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. 
In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Per- 
son having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors 

85 shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain 
two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse 
from them by Ballot the Vice President.] ^ 

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the 
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; 
which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. 

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of 

86 the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Con- 
stitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President ; neither 
shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not 

87 have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been 
fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. 

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or 
of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the 

88 Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve 
on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law pro- 

89 vide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or In- 
ability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring 
what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer 
shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or 
a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Serv- 

90 ices, a Compensation which shall neither be increased nor 
diminished during the Period for which he shall have been 
elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any 
other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

1 This paragraph has been superseded by the 12th amendment. 



APPENDIX 445 

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall 
take the following Oath or Affirmation: — ''I do solemnly 91 
swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office 
of President of the United States, and will to the best of 
my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution 
of the United States." 

Section 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of 92 
th.e Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia 
of the Several States, when called into the actual Service 
of the United States ; he may require the Opinion, in writ- 93 
ing, of the principal Officer in each of the Executive De- 
partments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their 
respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Re- 94 
prieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, 
except in Cases of Impeachment. 

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Con- 
sent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds 95 
of the Senators present concur ; and he shall nominate, 
and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, 
shall appoint Ambassadors, other public JMinisters and Con- 96 
suls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers 97 
of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by 
Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment 98 
of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the Presi- 
dent alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Depart- 
ments. 

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies 
that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by 99 
granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of 
their next Session. 

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to 
their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge neces- 



446 APPENDIX 

100 sary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, 
convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of 
Disagreement between them, with Respect to the time of 

101 Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he 
shall think proper ; he shall receive Ambassadors and other 

102 public Ministers ; he shall take Care that the Laws be faith- 
fully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of 
the United States. 

103 Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil 
Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office 

104 on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, 
or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 



ARTICLE III 

Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall 

105 be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts 
as the Congress may from time to time ordain and estab- 
lish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, 

106 shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, 
at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, 
which shall not be diminished during their continuance 
in Office. 

Section 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, 
in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the 
Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, ) or which 
shall be made, under their Authority; — ^to all Cases affect- 

107 ing Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; — 
to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; — ^to 

108 Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; 
— to Controversies between two or more States; — between 

109 a State and Citizens of another State : ^ — ^between Citizens 
of different States; — between Citizens of the same State 

1 This clause was modified, by the 11th amendment. 



APPENDIX 447 

claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and be- 
tween a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, 
Citizens or Subjects. 

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Minis- 110 
ters and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, 
the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all 
the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall 
have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with 
such Exceptions, and under such regulations as the Con- 
gress shall make. 

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeach- 
ment, shall be by Jury ; and such Trial shall be held in the 111 
State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; 
but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall 
be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law 
have directed. 

Section 3. Treason against the United States shall con- 
sist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to 
their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person 
shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of 113 
two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in 
open Court. 

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punish- 114 
ment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work 
Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life 
of the Person attainted. 



ARTICLE IV 

Section 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each 115 
State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings 
of everA^ other State. And the Congress may by general 
Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records 
and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 



448 APPENDIX 

116 Section 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to 
all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several 
States. • , . 

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, 

117 or other Crime, shall on Demand of the executive Authority 
of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to remove 
to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 

[No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under 
the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Conse- 
quence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged 
from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on 
Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may 
be due.] ^ 



118 Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress 
into this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected 
within the Jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State 
be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts 
of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the 
States concerned as well as of the Congress. 

119 The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make 
all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory 
or other Property belonging to the United States ; and noth- 
ing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Preju- 
dice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular 
State. 



120 Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every 
State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, 
and .shall protect each of them against Invasion ; and on 

121 Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when 
the Legislature cannot be convened/) against domestic Vio- 
lence. 

i Since the abolition pf slavery this clause has had no significauce. 



APPENDIX 449 



ARTICLE V 



The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall 122 
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Con- 
stitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two 
thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for 
proposing Amendments, which in either Case, shall be 
valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitu- 
tioii, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of 123 
the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may 
be proposed by the Congress ; Provided that no Amendment 
which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight 
hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and 
fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; 
and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived 124 
of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 



ARTICLE VI 

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, 
before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid 125 
against the United States under this Constitution, as under 
the Confederation. 

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States 
which shall be made in Pursuance thereof ; and all Treaties 126 
made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the 
United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land ; and 
the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any 127 
Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the 
Contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and 
the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all 
executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States 



450 APPENDIX 

and of the several States, shall be bound hy Oath or Affir- 
128 mation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test 
shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or 
public Trust under the United States. 



ARTICLE VII 

129 The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall 
be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution be- 
tween the States so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the 
States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the 
Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eight}^ 
seven and of the Independence of the United States of 

130 America the Twelfth. In Witness whereof We have here- 
unto subscribed our Names, 

G° : WASHINGTON— Presidt. 

and deputy from Virginia 

Attest William Jackson, Secretary 

^T TT 7 • fJOHN LaNGDON 

New Hampsmre -< . ^ ^. 

^ L Nicholas Oilman 

, ,^ r Nathaniel GoRHAM 
Massachusetts Ik^^pusKing 

/^ J.- ^ f Wm. Saml. Johnson 

Connecticut ■< ^ o. 

L Roger Sherman 

New York Alexander Hamilton 



New Jersey 



WiL : LWINGSTON 

David Brearley 
Wm. Paterson 
Jona : Dayton 



APPENDIX 



451 



Pennsylvania 



Delaware . 



Maryland 



Virginia 



North Carolina 



B. Franklin 
Thomas Mifflin 
RoBT. Morris 
Geo. Clymer 
Thos. Fitz Simons 
Jared Ingersoll 
James Wilson 
Gouv Morris 

Geo. Read 

Gunning Bedford jun 
John Dickinson 
Richard Bassett 
_ Jaco : Broom 

r James McHenry 
i Dan of St Thos. Jenifer 
LDanl Carroll 

f John Blair — 

L James Madison Jr 

r Wm : Blount 

J RlCHD.DOBBS SpAIGHT 

I Hu Williamson 



South Carolina 



Georgia 



j. rutledge 
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 
Charles Pinckney 
Pierce Butler 

/William Few 
IAbr Baldwin 



ARTICLES 

IN 

ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF 

THE 

CONSITUTION OF THE UNITED STATE! 
OF AMERICA i 



PROPOSED BY CONGRESS AND RATIFIED BY THE LEGISLATURES 

OF THE SEVERAL STATES, PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH 

ARTICLE OF THE CONSTITUTION 



ARTICLE I 

131 Congress shall make no law respecting an establisSment 
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or 

132 abridging the freedom of s^^eech, or of the pr^s; or the 

133 right^ of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the Government for a redress of grievances. 



ARTICLE II 

134 A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security 
of a free State, the right, of the people to keep and bear 
arms, shall not be infringed. ^ 

1 The first ten amendments were adopted in 1791. 

452 




APPENDIX 453 

ARTICLE XIII 

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any 135 
house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, 
but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 136 
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches 
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall 
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affir- • 
mation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
and the persons or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or 
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or in- 137 
dictment of a Grand. Jury, except in cases arising in the 
land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual serv- 
ice in the time of War or public danger; nor shall any 
person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in 
jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any 
Criminal Case to be a witness against himself, nor be de- 
prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process 138 
of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, 
without just compensation. "^ 

ARTICLE VI 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury 139 
of the State and district wherein the crime shall, h^ve been 



454 APPENDIX 

committed, which district shall have been previously ascer- 
tained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause 
of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses 

140 against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Coun- 
sel for his defence. 

ARTICLE VII 

141 In suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall 
be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be other- 
wise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than 
according to the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII 

142 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 



ARTICLE IX 

143 The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, 
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained 
by the people. 

ARTICLE X 

144 The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved 
to the States respectively, or to the people. 

" ARTICLE XI 1 

145 The Judicial power of the United States shall not be 
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, com- 

1 Adopted in 1798. 



APPENDIX 455 

menced or prosecuted against one of the United States by 
Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any 
Foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII 1 

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and 146 
vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of 
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State 
with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person 
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 147 
voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct 
lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all per- 
sons voted for as Vice President, and of the number of 
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate ; — The Presi- 
dent of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes 
shall then be counted; — The person having the greatest 
number of votes for President, shall be the President, if 
such number be a majority of the whole number of Elec- 
tors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then 
from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding 
three on the list of those voted for as President, the House 
of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the 
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be 148 
taken by States, the representation from each State having 
one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a 
member or members from two thirds of the States, and a 
majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. 
And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a 
President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then 
the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of 
the death or other constitutional disability of the President. 

1 Adopted in 1804. 



456 APPENDIX 

Tbe person having the greatest number of votes as Vice 
President, shall be the Vice President, if such number be 
a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and 
if no person have a majority, then from the two highest 
numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice Presi- 
dent ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds 
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the 
whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person 
constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States. 

ARTICLE XIII 1 

149 Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall 
have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United 
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XIV 2 

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the 

150 United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are 
citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they 

151 reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall 
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the 
United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of 

152 life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor 
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal pro- 
tection of the laws. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among 

153 the several States according to their respective numbers, 
counting the whole number of persons in each State, ex- 

1 Adopted in 1865. 2 Adopted in 1868. 



APPENDIX 457 

eluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote 
at any election for the choice of electors for President and 
Vice President of the United States, Representatives in 
Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or 
the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any 
of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one 
years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any 
way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other 
crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced 154 
in the proportion which the number of such male citizens 
shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one 
years of age in such State. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Represen- 
tative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice Presi- 
dent, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United 
States, or under any States, who, having previously taken 
an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the 
United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or 
as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support 
the Constitution of the United States shall have engaged 155 
in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid 
or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may 
by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such dis- 
ability. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United 
States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for 156 
payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppress- 
ing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But 
neither the United States nor any State shall assume or 157 
pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrec- 
tion or rebellion against the United States, or any claim 
for the loss of emancipation of any slave; but all such 
debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and 
void. 

Section 5. The Congress shall have power to en- 158 
force, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this 
article, 



458 APPENDIX 

ARTICLE XVI 

159 Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to 
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States 
or by any State on account of race, color, or previous con- 
dition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XVI 2 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on 

160 incomes from whatever source derived, without apportion- 
ment among the several States, and without regard to any 
census or enumeration. 

ARTICLE XVII 2 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for 
six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors 

161 in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for elec- 
tors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State 
in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall 
issue writs of election to fill such vacancies : Provided, That 
the legislature of the State may empower the executive 

162 thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill 
the vacancies by election as- the legislature may direct. 

ARTICLE XVIII ^ 

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this 
article the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicat- 
ing liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the ex- 
portation thereof from the United States and all territory 
subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is 
hereby prohibited. 

Section 2. The Congress and the several States have con- 
current power to enforce this article by appropriate legis- 
lation. 

1 Adopted in 1870, 2 Adopted in 1913, s Adopted in 1919, 



APPENDIX B 

LIST OP BOOKS TO WHICH REFERENCES 
ARE MADE 

Abbott, Lyman, ^'The Rights of Man" 

Beard, Charles A., ''American Government and Politics" 

Bruere, Henry, "The New City Government" 

Bullock, Charles J., "Introduction to the Study of 

Economics" 
Carver, Thomas N, "Principles of Political Economy" 
Cleveland, P. H., and Schafer, Joseph, "Democracy in Re- 
construction" 
Commons, John R., and Andrews, John B., "The Princi- 
ples of Labor Legislation ' ^ 
Dole, Charles P., "The Spirit of Democracy" 
Ellwood, Charles A., "Sociology and Modern Social Prob- 
lems" 
Fairlee, J. A., "Local Government in Counties, Towns, 

and Villages ' ' 
Gettell, Raymond G., "Readings in Political Science" 
Goodnow, P. J., and Bates, P. G., "Municipal Govern- 
ment ^ ' 
Hinsdale, A. B., "The American Government" 
Holcombe, A. N., "State Government in the United States" 
Howe, Frederic C, "The Modern City and its Problems" 
Johnson, Allen, "Readings in American Constitutional 

History ' ' 
Jones, Chester Lloyd, "Readings in Parties and Elections" 
Kaye, P. L., "Readings in Civil Government" 
Learned, H. B., "The President's Cabinet" 
Munro, W. B., "The Government of the United States" 
Reinsch, Paul S., "Readings in American State Govern- 
ment" 
Spargo, John, "Socialism" 

Thompson, Charles M., "Elementary Economics" 
Willoughby, W. W., "The American Constitutional Sys- 
tem" 
Woodburn, J. A., "The American Republic" 
Zueblin, Charles, ' ' American Municipal Progress ' ' 

459 



INDEX 



Accidents, insurance against, 

388-390 
Agriculture, Department of, 
its organization, 129 
its Bureau of Public Koads, 334 
as an agency of conservation, 

350 
its Forest Service, 353 
its Bureau of Plant Industry, 

427 
its Bureau of Animal Indus- 
try, 427 
its Bureau of Entomology, 427 
its Bureau of Biological Sur- 

\ey, 427 
its Weather Bureau, 427 
its Bureau of Soils, 427 
its Bureau of Crop Estimates, 

428 
its Office of Markets and Rural 

Organization, 428 
its Bureau of Public Roads, 

428 
its Office of Experiment Sta- 
tions, 428 
its Division of Publications, 

428 
its State's Relation Service, 
428; its county agents, 429 
Alabama, 182 
Alaska, 146, 371 
Albany Plan of Union, 39 
Aliens, 86, 328 
Alliance, 38 
Alms-giving, 400 
Ambassadors, 120, 256, 257 
Amendment of Constitutions, 

34-36, 51 
Americanism, 93 
Americanization, 327 
Anarchists, 326 
Animal Industry, Bureau of, 

129,427 
Anti-trust legislation, 344-347 



461 



Appropriations by Congress, 

277-280 
Arbitration, 

of international disputes, 261 

of labor disputes, 379 
Arizona, 

initiative and referendum in, 
159 

recall in, 170 

local government in, 182 

minimum Avage law in, 386 
Arkansas, 

initiative and referendum in, 
159 

local government in, 182 

minimum Avage in, 386 
Army, the regular, 249-251 
Army War College, 370 
Articles of Confederation, 40-44, 

46, 302 
Assemblage, freedom of, 87 
Assessment, 286 
Assessments,, special, 269, 289 
Assessors, 186, 193, 200 
Attorney-General, 

of the United States, 129 

of a State, 166 
Auditor, 

of State, 165 

of county, 185 
Automobiles, 331 

B 

Bailey, L. H., quoted, 425, 434 
Ballots, casting and counting of, 

360 
Banks, . 

National, 311 

federal reserve, 312-314 

farm loan, 429 
Barter, 300 

Bicameral System, 26-27 
Bill of Rights, English, 79 



462 



INDEX 



Bills, 

passage of in Congress, 109- 
115 

in State legislatures, 153--155 

of credit, 303 
Biological Survey, Bureau of, 

427 
Blacklists, 377 
Bonds, government, 292-293 
Book of Estimates, 277 
Boroughs, 204-206 
Bribery, 362-364 
Budget, 

national, 278-280 

State, '^oi) 

city, 290 
Burnett Bill, 324 
By-laws, 199 



Cabinet, the, 126-127 

Calendar, the House, 113 

California, 
municipal home rule in, 68 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
recall in, 170 
local government in, 182 
county home rule in, 186 
discovery of gold in, 306 
State Highway system of, 333 
and Chinese labor, 377 
minimum wage law in, 386 
investigation of old age pen- 
sions, 403 
the community center in, 422 

Campaign expenditures, 362, 363 

Campaign, presidential, 221-222 

Candidates, nomination of, 217- 
222 

Capitation tax, 269 

Case laws, 178 

Cases, 

criminal and civil, 133 
at law, 133 
at equity, 133 

Chancery courts, 177 

Charities, State Board of, 401 

Charity, 339-404 



Charters, 

colonial, 31 

of corporations, 65 
"Checks and balances," 24-29 
Child labor, 376, 387, 390 
Children's Bureau, 382 
Chinese, 323, 326 
Circuit Court (State), 174 
Circuit Court of Appeals (fed- 
eral), 135 
Cities, 

home rule for, 66-67 

how they differ from villages, 
204 

organization of, 206-212 

the price of good government 
in, 214 

budget system in, 290 

debts of, 295, 296-298 

growth of, 414-415 
" functions of government of, 415 

problems of, 415-421 
Citizens, who are, 85-86 
Citizenship, 

rights of, 86-89 

duties of, 89 

and loyalty to party, 74 
City manager system, 211-212 
City planning, 420-421 
Civic center, 422 
Civil liberty, 

defined, 76 

growth of American, 77-82 

its preservation, 82 

and civil rights, 85-89 
Civil Service Commission, 126, 

130 
Civil Service, federal executive, 

125-131 
Clayton Trust Bill, 346 
Clerk, 

of courts, 184 

of townships, 193 

of the New England town, 199 
Coal, possible exhaustion of, 

355 
Coast Guard Service, 320 
Coinage, 3uZ, 305, S09, 314 
Collection of taxes, 276, 288 
Collective bargaining, 377-378 



INDEX 



463 



Colorado, 

equal suffrage in, 13 
municipal home rule in, 68 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
recall in, 170 
local government in, 182 
minimum wage law in, 386 
Commerce, 

power of Congress over, 47, 

316 
Department of, 129 
foreign, 316-321 
and the tariff, 317-319 
regulations of shipping, 319 
and the federal government, 

320 
interstate and intrastate de- 
fined, 330 
and transportation, 331-337 
intrastate, 334 

Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion, 335-336 
Transportation Act of 1920, 
336 
Commerce, Department of, 129 
Commission System of city 

government, 208-211 
Commissioner of Education 

(federal) 371 
Committees, 

in Congress, 110-115 
in State legislatures, 154 
the Committee on Rules, 114 
the Committee of the Whole, 

114 
on Ways and Means, 274 
the Conference Committee, 116 
Common Law, 234 
Common Schools, 369 
Commons, J. R., quoted, 386 
Community Center, the, 422 
Comptroller (State), 165 
Compulsory arbitration, 379-381 
Concurrent powers, 47 
Confederation, 38 
Confederation, Articles of, 40- 

43 
Congress of the Confederation, 
40-44 



Congress (of the United States) 

organization of, 97-103 

representation in, 98-101 

apportionment of Representa- 
tives, 101-102 

election of members, 102-103 

its powers, 103 

the hope of the nation, 104-105 

its assembling and adjourn- 
ment, 108 

numbering of, 108 

sessions of, 109 

at work, 108-116 

and the President, 122 

its power over Territories and 
Dependencies, 143 

its power over commerce, 47, 
316, 335 

and the national defense, 248 

its power to tax, 273 

its power to borrow money, 293 

its power over corporations, 
341 
Connecticut, 

its constitution, 32 

in the convention of 1787, 100 
Conservation, 

meaning of, 349 

scope of, 349-350 

of the soil, 350 

through reclamation, 351-353 

of forests, 353 

of waterpower, 354 

benefits of, 356-357 
Consolidation of State offices, 

168 
Constables, 200, 253 
Constabulary, State, 252 
Constitutions, 

the first, 32 

how they obtain their author- 
ity, 33 

outline of a constitution, 33-34 

amendments of, 34-36, 51-52 

the English constitution, 37 

and the legislature, 155 

and civil liberty, 80-82 
Constitution of the United 
States, 

a creation of the people, 5 



464 



INDEX 



Constitution — continued 
our fundamental law, 32 
framed and ratified, 46-47 
distribution of powers under, 

47-51 
methods of amending, 51-52 
interstate relations under, 58- 

60 
bill of rights, 82 
citizenship under, 85, 88 
and the Supreme Court, 136-140 

Consuls, 120, 258 

Continental Congress, 40, 303 

Convention, National, 222 

Convention of 1787, 46, 98, 118, 
120 

Convention system of nominat- 
ing candidates, 221 

Conventions, constitutional, 35 

Coroner, the, 185 

Corporations, 
defined, 64 
two kinds of, 65 
in modern life, 340 
how created and controlled, 

340-341 
growth of trusts, 341-343 
their advantages and disadvan- 
tages, 343-344 

^ and the federal government, 
344-346 
and the States, 346-347 
the trust problem, 347-348 

Corporation tax, 268 

Corrupt practices at elections, 
361-363 

Council system, 206-208 

Counterfeiting, 409 

County Agents, 429 

County courts, 177 

County government, 
importance of, 181 
types of, 181-183 
governing body of, 183-184 
officials of, 184-186 
home rule, 186 
the citizen and his county, 186- 

187 
and the poor, 400 
and the farmer, 431 



County-Township System, 189- 

192 
Court of Claims, 140 
Courtesy, senatorial, 104 
Courts, see Judiciary 
Crime, 

definition of, 406 

punishment of, 77, 407 

and the State government, 

407-409 
and the federal government, 

409-410 
prevention of, 410-412 
Crop Estimates, Bureau of, 129, 

428 
Currency of the United States, 

308-314. See also Money. 
Customs duties, 269, 277, 281 



D 



Debt, public, 

a necessity, 292 

how contracted, 292-293 

the national debt, 293-294 

State, 294 

of local governments, 295-297 

how paid, 297-298 
Declaration of Independence, 40, 

80 
Defective classes, 401 
Defense, 

an indispensable function, 248 

national, 248-252 

iState, 252 

local, 252-253 
Deficit, of State governments, 295 
Delegate, territorial, 146 
Delinquency, 

in taxes, 288 

juvenile, 412 
Democracy, 

defined, 4 

the best form of government, 5 

dangers of, 6 

and the individual, 7 

growth of in America, 10-11 

representative, 17-22 

pure, 17 



INDEX 



465 



Democracy — continued 

and the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 80 

and the election of the Presi- 
dent, 119 

and the initiative and referen- 
dum, 159 

and education, 366 

and the community center, 422 
Democratic party, 71 
Demagogue, the, 6 
Departments, the federal execu- 
tive, 128-131 
Departments, the three, 

development of, 24-25 

independence of, 28 

disadvantages of, 29 
Dependencies, 

how they differ from terri- 
tories, 143 

on the American continent, 
144-148 

Indian reservations, 146 

Panama Canal strip, 147 

Porto Rico, 148 

Philippine Islands, 149-151 

Guam, 151 

Virgin Islands, 151 
Direct nominations, 220 
Direct legislation, 157-159 
Directorates, interlocking, 346 
District Attorney (county), 184 
District Attorney (federal), 140 
District Courts (federal), 134- 

135 
District Court (State), 174 
District of Columbia, 140, 144- 

146, 377, 386 
Draft, the, 250 
Drainage, 352 
Due process of law, 88, 241 



E 



Education, 

and democracy, 366 
controlled by the State, 366 
a local affair, 367 
the school district, 368 
school supervision, 368-369 



common schools and high 

schools, 369 
and the federal government, 

369-371 
needed reforms in, 371-372 
Education, Bureau of (federal), 

371 
Eighteenth Amendment, 397 
Eight-hour day, 386-387 
Election, second, 23 
Elections, 

usefulness of frequent, 359 
conducted by State authority, 

360 
registration, 360 
casting and counting of bal- 
lots, 361 
laws against corrupt practices, 

361-363 
bribery, 363-364 
Electorate, the, 10 
Electors, presidential, 118-119, 

220 
Entomology, Bureau of, 427 
Equality, before the law, 243 
Equity cases, 133, 177 
Excises, 269, 275 
Executive, the, 27-2^ 
Executive departments (federal), 

125-131; State, 163-166 
Exemptions in taxation, 288 
Expenditures, national. 111, 278, 

281 
Experiment Stations, Office of, 
428 



F 



Factory system, 375 
Farm Loan Banks, 429 
Farmer, the, and the government, 

427-433 
Farmers' Alliance, 433 
Farmers' associations, 433 
Farmers' Institutes, 433 
Federal Aid Roads Bill, 332 
Federal Board for Vocational 

Education, 370 
Federal government, 
defined, 38 



466 



INDEX 



Federal Government — continued 
preservation of, 59 
and the State, 54-60 
and civil rights, 88 
executive departments of, 125- 
131 
Federal Reserve Bank Notes, 310- 

313 
Federal Reserve Board, 130, 313 
Federal Reserve Notes, 310, 

(chart), 313 
Federal Trade Commission, 130, 

345 
Federalist partv, 71 
Fees, 269, 289 
Fence Viewers, 200 
Field drivers, 200 
Filibuster, the, 116 
Finance, public, 273, See tawa- 

tion. 
Florida, 182 

Foreign and Domestic Com- 
merce, Bureau of, 130, 320 
Foreigners, 322-325 
Forest Service, bureau of, 129, 

353 
Forest Conservation, 353-354 
Franchise, the elective, 10 
Franchises, 268, 296, 416 
Franchise tax, 268 
Franklin, Benjamin, 40, 42, 100 
Free Trade, 317 



G 



Gas, a public utility, 416 
General Property tax, 268, 285 
Georgia, 

and the election of judges, 173 

local government in, 182, 183 
note 

its legislature in 1787, 98 
Gerrymandering, 102 
Gold, 301, 304-306, 308, 309, 

314 
Goodnow, F. J,, quoted, 417 
Government, 

defined, 3 

types of, 4 

democratic, 4-8 



masters of, 10-14 

representative, 17-22 

constitutional, 31-36 

federal, 38-52, 55-59 

complexity of the American, 
39 

three grades of, 63-64 

and political parties, 69 

characteristic features of 
American, 91-92 

spirit of American, 92-94 

functions of, 227-231 

and the individual, 228 

ideal schemes of, 236 

cost of, 266 

and public debt, 292 

and the farmer, 427-433 
Governor (State) 163-165 
Grand jury, 175 
Granges, 433 
Great Charter, the, 77 
Greece, government in ancient, 

17 
Greenbacks, 309-311 
Gresham's law, 305 
Guam, 151 

H 

Habeas Corpus, 78, 242, 253 
Hamilton, Alexander, 

and the Constitution, 42, 51 

the advocate of broad con- 
struction, 71 

and public debt, 293, 297 

and child labor, 390 
Hare system of representation, 

21 
Hawaii, 148 

Health, the public, 394-395 
Health Insurance, 391 
High Schools, 369 
Highways, 331-334 
Home Rule, municipal, 66-67 
"Hopper,^' the, in the House of 

Representatives, 112 
House of Representatives (na- 
tional ) 

its organization, 98-100 

national and federal princi- 
ple in, 101 



INDEX 



467 



House of Representatives — cont'd 

apportionment of members, 
101-102 

election of members, 102 

at work, 110-115 

its strength in each State, 111 
(chart) 

and treaties, 261 

and revenue bills, 274 
Housing problem, 418-420 
Hundred moot, 18 
Hydro-electric energy, 355 



Idaho, 

equal suffrage in, 13 

initiative and referendum in, 
159 

consolidation of State officers, 
168 

recall in, 170 

local government in, 182 

and Chinese laborers, 377 
Illinois, 

consolidation of State officers 
in, 168 

intermediate courts in, 176, 
note 

the county in, 183 

township government in, 190 

public opinion law in, 239 

community center in, 422 
Illiteracy, 371 
Immigration, 

extent of, 322 

restrictions upon, 323 

where the immigTan,ts come 
from, 324 (chart) 

benefit of immigration, 325 

naturalization, 326 

Americanization, 327 
Immigration, Bureau of, 130, 325 
Impeachment, 103-104, 168 
Income tax, 268, 275, 289 
Independence, Declaration of, 

40, 80 
Indeterminate sentences, 411-412 
Indian Reservations, 146 
Indians, 86, 146 



Indiana, 

township government in, 190 

community center in, 422 
Inditference, 6 
Individualists, 230 
Indoor relief, 400-401 
Ifidustrial Court (Kansas) 381 
Inheritance tax, 268, 276, 289 
Initiative and referendum, 35 

(note) 157-159 
Injunction, writ of, 178-179 
Insurance against accident, 

388-390 
Insurance, health, 391 
Intemperance, 396-398 
Interior, Department of, 129 
Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion, 130, 335-337 
Interstate Relations, 56-59 
Internal Revenue, Bureau of, 

276 
Internal Revenue taxes, 269 
International law, 

its development, 255 

rules of, 256-257 

sanction of, 257 
International relations, 255-262 
Intimidation at elections, 362 
Intrastate Commerce, 330, 332 
Iowa, 

amendment of constitution of, 
35 

township government in, 190 
Irrigation, 351-352 



Japanese, 326 

Jay's treaty, 261 

Jefferson, Thomac, 
quoted, 36 

and the constitution, 51 
and the Democratic party, 71 
praises the New England town, 
201 

Jones Water-power Bill, 355 

Judiciary, the, 27 

Judiciary ( federal ) , 
independence of, 133 
organization of, 134-136 



468 



INDEX 



Judiciary — continued 

the Supreme Court, 136-140 
Judiciary ( State ) , 

selection of judges, 173 

several grades of State courts, 
173-177 

relation of to federal judiciary, 
177-178 

powers of, 178 
Jury system, 175-176 
Jury, trial by, 87, 175 
Justice, 

guaranteed in the bill of 
rights, 87 

the highest aim of government, 
240 

fundamentals of, 240-244 

and the poor, 244-246 

"fiat justitia," 246 
Justice, Department of, 129 
Justice of the Peace, 174, 193 
Juvenile delinquency, 412 

K 

Kansas, 

initiative and referendum in, 

159 
recall in, 170 

township government in, 190 
small claims court in, 245 
State Industrial Court in, 

380-381 
minimum wage law in, 386 

Kentucky, 182 



Labor, 

Department of, 130 
Eailway Labor Board, 337 
growth of labor organizations, 

374-376 
aims of labor, 376 
the State and the working- 
man, 376-377 
collective bargaining, 377 
settlement of labor disputes, 

378 
a difficult labor problem, 379- 
381 



federal government and the- 

workingman, 381-382 
the laws and the working- 
man, 384-389 
the laborer is worthy of his 

hire, 385-386 
the length of the working-day, 

386-387 
unemployment, 387-388 
insurance against accidents, 

388-389 
child labor laws, 390 
health insurance, 391-392 
mothers' pensions, 402 
old age pensions, 403 
Labor, Department of, 129 
Labor Statistics, Bureau of, 382 
Laws, 

what a law is, 233 
different kinds of laws, 233 
characteristic features of a 

law, 234 
public opinion and, 235-237 
obedience to, 237 
Laws and the workingman, 384- 

390 
League, 38 

League of Nations, 262, 387 
Legal tender, 303 
Legislature, the, 25-27 
Legislature (State), 

its control of municipalities, 

65, 155 
general features of, 153 
passage of bills in, 153-155 
importance of laws of, 155-156 
and the State constitution, 

156 
criticism of, 157 
Liberty, of the citizen, 242 
Library of Congress, 130 
License taxes, 269 
Lieutenant-Governor, 165 
Life, safeguarding human, 241 
Literacy test, 325 
Local government, 62-68, 431. 
See also County, Township, 
etc. 
Lockout, the, 378 



INDEX 



469 



Louisiana, 

initiative and referendum, 159 
recall in, 170 
local government in, 182 
forbids laws fixing wages of 
labor, 377 

M 

Madison, James, quoted, 274 
Manager system, 211-212 
Mandamus, 179 
Maine, 159, 397 
Majority rule, 5 

Markets and Rural Organiza- 
tion, Bureau of, 428 
Martial law, 253 
Marshal (federal), 140 
Marshall, John, quoted, 138 
Maryland, 

and the District of Columbia, 

144 
referendum in, 159 
local government in, 182 
its budget system, 290 
Massachusetts, 

initiative and referendum in, 

159 
consolidation of State offices 

in, 168 
and public education, 367 
minimum wage law in, 386 
Mothers' pensions in, 402 
Metals, precious, 301 
Michigan, 

amendment of constitution of, 

35 
municipal home rule in, 68 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
recall in, 170 
the county in, 183 
township government in, 190, 

191 
drainage of swamp lands in, 

353 
regulation of child labor in, 
390 
Military Academy, 128, 370 
Militia,' 250, 252 
Mill, John Stuart, quoted, 229 



Minimum wage law, 386 

Ministers, 257, 258 

Minnesota, 

municipal home rule in, 68 
township government in, 190 
exemption of taxation, 288 
minimum wage law in, 386 

Minority, representation of, 20 

Mississippi, 182 

Missouri, 

municipal home rule in, 68 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
intermediate courts in, 176, 

(note) 
township government in, 190 
forbids intimidation at elec- 
tions, 3G2 

Monarchy, 4 

Money, 

a commodity, 300 
the precious metals, 301 
coinage of, 3u2 
paper, 302, 304 
representative, 304 
Gresham's law, 304-306 
different kinds of, 308 
amount of, 308, 310 (chart) 
essential facts of, 314 

Monopoly, 342, 347 

Montana, 159, 182 

Morality, public, 396 

Mothers' Pensions, 402 

Municipalities, 

municipal corporations, 65 
necessity for, 203 
two classes of, 204 
organization of, 206-212 
taxation in, 284 
problems of, 414-422 

Municipal ownership, 416-418 

Munro, W. B., quoted, 30 



N 



National Banks, 311 
National Guard, 250 
National Committee (political 

parties) 218 
National Convention, 222 



470 



INDEX 



National Parks, 146 

Naturalization, 86, 326 

Naturalization, Bureau, 130, 327 

Naval Academy, 129, 370 

Navy Department, 129 

Navy, the American, 251 

Nebraska, 

initiative and referendum in, 

159 
township government in, 190 
consolidation of State oflfices 
in, 168 

New England, 
democracy in, 19 
the county in, 182 
town government in, 196-201 
money in, 301 

decline of rural population in, 
425 

New England Confederation, 39 

New Jersey, 

in the convention of 1787, 98 
Surrogate's Court in, 177 
the county in, 183 
township government in, 190 
its incorporation law, 342 
forbids intimidation at elec- 
tions, 362 
investigates old age pensions, 
403 

New Mexico, 159, 182 

Nevada, 159, 170 

New York (State), 

its judicial system, 176 (note) 
the county in, 183 
township government in, 189 
trade unions in, 376 
control of charities in, 402 
decline of rural population in, 
425 

New York City, 277, 284, 290, 
296, 328 

Nomination of candidates, 217- 
222 

Normal Schools, 369 

North Carolina, 47, 182 

North Dakota, 

initiative and referendum, 159 
township government in, 190 
and Chinese labor, 377 



minimimi wage law in, 386 



O 



Ohio, 

municipal home rule, in 68 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
township government in, 190 
budgets in cities of, 290 
its anti-trust law, 346-347 
forbids intimidation at elec- 
tions, 362 
regulation of child labor, 390 
investigation of health insur- 
ance in, 392 

Oklahoma, 

municipal home rule in, 68 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
township government in, 190 

Old-Age Pensions, 402 

Ordinances, 207 

Ordinary, the, 183 (notp) 

Oregon, 

municipal home rule in, 68 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
recall in, 170 
local government in, 182 
minimum wage law in, 386 
its policy in respect to crime, 
411 

Organized charity, 403 

Orphan's court, 177 

Outdoor relief, 400-401 

Overseers of the Poor, 186, 193, 
200 



Panama Canal Strip, 147 
Paper money, 302 
Pardon, power of, 120, 164 
Parliament, English, 

the first, 18 

representation in, 19 

a law-making body, 25 

and the English constitution, 
37 



INDEX 



471 



Parliament, English — continued 
and the English Bill of 

Rights, 79-80 
and cabinet government, 131- 

132 
and bribery, 363 
and trade unions, 375 

Parties, political, 
party defined, 69 
origin of in the United States, 

70 
of to-day, 71-73 
"third," 73 

and the individual, 73-74 
organizations of, 217-222 

Peace treaties, 262 

Pensions, 399, 402 

Petit Jury, 175 

Petition of Right, 78 

Petition, right of, 80, 87, 158 

Pennsylvania, 

its legislature in 1787, 98 
intermediate courts in, 176 

(note) 
township government in, 190 
State constabulary in, 252 
highway system in, 331 
its normal school system, 369 
employers, liability in, 389 

Philippine Islands, 149-151, 309 
( note ) 

Plant Industry, Bureau of, 129,427 

Plurality, 23 

Policemen, 253, 380 

Police power, 384, 393 

Poll tax, 269, 289 

Pools, 341 

Poor, helping the, 399-404 

Population, of cities, 414; of 
rural communities, 425 

Porto Rico, 148 

Posse comitatus, 252 

Post-Office, Department of, 129 

Powers, govermental, 
of the people, 4 
separation of, 24 
of the Confederation, 41 
distribution of, 47-49 
implied and resulting, 50 
of the State, 54 



division of power of the State, 

62-63 
of local government, 62-67 
of Congress, 103 
of State executive, 62-166 
of State judiciary, 178 
and public opinion, 235-237 
in respect to coinage, 302 
police power of, 384, 393 

President of the United States, 
election of, 118-119, 222 
powers and duties of, 103, 120 
his share in law-making, 120- 

122 
succession to the Presidency, 

122 
as a political personality, 123 
and the power of appointment, 

103, 125 
his Cabinet, 126-127 
his salary, 131 
Commander-in-Chief, 250 
head of foreign affairs, 259 

Press, freedom of, 87 

Primaries, 218 

Probate courts, 177 

Progressive taxation, 270 

Prohibition, 396-398 

Property, 86, 242-243 

Property tax, 268 

Proportional representation, 21 

Protection, 317-31^ 

Public Defender, 188 

Public Health, 394-395 

Public Health Service (federal), 
128, 395 

Public morality, 396 

Public opinion, 235 

Public Roads, Bureau of, 129, 
334, 428 

Public Safety, 395 

Public Utilities, 415-418 

Public Utility Commissions, 334 

R 

Railroad Commissions (State), 

334 
Railroads, 334-337 
Railway Labor Board, 337, 382 



472 



INDEX 



Rates, charged by railroads, 335- 

336 
Ratio of representation, 102 
Recall, the, 170 

Reclamation of lands, 351-353 
Reclamation Service, bureau, 129, 

351 
Recorder of deeds, 185 
Recreation, municipal, 421 
Referendum, initiative and, 35 

(note), 157-159 
Registration, 360 
Register of deeds, 185 
Religious freedom, 86 
Representation, 

principles of, 19-2ft 

of the minority, 20' 

in Congress, 98 

ratio of, 102 
Representative government, 17- 

22, 359 
Republic, 4 
Republican party, 71 
Bevenues, national, 275-277, 281 
Rhode Island, 

its constitution, 32 

not represented in the Con- 
vention of 1787, 46 

and religious freedom, 197 
Roads, 331, 334-336 
Roosevelt, Theodore, quoted, 358, 

426 
Rural America, 425-434 
Rural community units, 432 
Rural life, conditions of, 426 

S 
Safety, the public, 395-396 
Salaries of federal officials, 131 
Samoa, 151 
School district, 368 
School supervision, 368 
Secretary of State, 

of the United States, 127, 259 

of a State, 165 
Secretary of the Treasury, 128, 

278 
Secretary of War, 128, 250-251 
Senate, the, 26 
Senate of the United States, 



national and federal principle 

in, 100 
election of members of, 102-103 
and the treatj^-making power, 

104 
senatorial courtesy, 104 
at work, 115-116 
confirms appointments, 125 
and treaties, 260 
and revenue bills, 274 

Sheriff, the, 184, 252 

Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 344 

Shipping, foreign, 319 

Shipping Board, 130, 320 

Shire moot, the, 18 

Short Ballot, the, 365 

Silver, 301, 304-306, 308, 309, 
310 (chart), 314 

Single tax, 270 

Sinking fund, 297 

Slums, 420, 431 

Smith, Adam, his canons of taxa- 
tion, 267 

Smith-Hughes Act (vocational 
training), 370 

Smithsonian Institution, 130 

Socialism, 230 

Socialist party, 72 

Soil, conservation of, 350 

Soils, Bureau of, 427 

South Carolina, 182 

South Dakota, 159, 190 

Speaker, of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, 110 

Speech, freedom of, 87 

Spirit, the American, 93 

Stamp Act Congress, 39 

Standard Oil Company, 344 

State, Department of, 128 

State ( Commonwealth ) , 
regulates suffrage, 12 
the Constitution of a, 32-33 
powers of, 48-50, 54-56 
interstate relations, 59 
and the federal government, 

59-60 
division of powers of, 62-63 
and the municipality, 65-67 
civil rights of State citizen- 
ship, 86-88 



INDEX 



473 



State — continued 

legislatures of, 153-159 
executive department of, 162- 

170 
its system of taxation, 283- 

289 
and public debt, 294-295 
cannot coin money, 302 
its power over corporations, 

341 
its control of elections, 360 
and intrastate commerce, 330- 

332 
public education controlled by, 

366-367 
controls labor matters, 376- 

377 
and the public health, 394 
and their care of the poor, 400 
crime dealt with by, 407 
and the farmer, 430 

States Relations Service, 428 

Street railways, 416-418 

Strike, the, 179, 378-381 

Subsidiary Coinage, 309 

Suffrage, 12-13 

Sumner, Charles, quoted, 243 

Superintendent of Schools, 
of State, 166, 368 
of county, 185 

Superior Court (State), 174 

Supervisor (Township), 189, 193 

Supreme Court (of the United 
States ) , 
decides between the State and 

the federal government, 56 
judges of, appointed by the 

President, 120, 134 
organization of, 134-136 
and the Constitution, 136-138 
and the people, 139 

Supreme Court (State,), 176 

Sumptuary laws, 237 

Surrogate's Court, 177 

Surveyor, county, 185 

Swamp-lands, 353 



Taft, ex-President, quoted, 245 



Tariff, the, 275, 317-319 
Tariff Commission, 130, 319 
Taxation, 

authorized by the legislature, 
26 

and the Great Charter, 77 

defined, 266 

principles of, 267 

different kinds of taxes, 267- 
269 

proposed reforms in, 269-270 

the power of Congress to tax, 
273 

federal system of, 274-276 

taxing power of the State, 283 

authority for State and local 
taxes, 283 

State system of, 285-289 

assessment, 286 

equalization, 287 

collection, 288 

delinquency, 288 

exemption, 288 
Taxes, different kinds of, 267- 

269 
Teachers, compensation of, 371- 

372 
Tennessee, 182 
Territories, 

how governed, 143 

Alaska, 146 

Hawaii, 148 

treatment of, 151 
Texas, 176 (note), 182 
Tobacco as money, 300 
Town, 

the New England, 196-201 

the town-meeting, 198-199 

officers, 199 

as a factor in civic life, 200 

outside of New England, 201 
Towns (municipalities), 204- 

206 
Township, the. 

States having, 189-191 

powers of, 192 

organization of, 193 

a school for general citizen- 
ship, 193 

and the farmer, 431 



474 



INDEZ 



Trade Unions, 374-376 
Transportation, 

interstate and intrastate, 330 

highways, 331-333 

railroads, 334-337 

Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion, 335 

problems of urban, 415-416 
Transportation Act of 1920, 336 
Treason, 410 
Treasurer (State), 166 
Treasurer (county), 185 
Treasury, Department of, 128, 

278 
Treaties, 104, 120, 121, 259-262 
Trusts, 341-348 
Tyranny, 7 

tr 

Unemployment, 387-388 
Unions, political, 38 
United States, 
a democracy, 5 
a representative democracy, 

18-19 
a federal state, 39 
the federal and national prin- 
ciple in, 100 
United States notes, 309-311, 

314 
Universities, 369, 431 
Urban America, 414-423 
Urban life, contrasted with 

rural, 426 
Utah, 

equal suffrage in, 13 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
local government in, 182 
minimum wage law in, 386 



Veto power, the 

of the President, 121 

of the governor, 165 
Vice President, 115, 119, 122, 

222 
Villages, 204-206 
Virgin Islands, 151 



Virginia, 

representative government in, 

18 
in the Convention of 1787, 98 
and the District of Columbia, 

144 
county government in, 181 
its early currency, 300 

Vocational Education, 370-371 

Volstead Act, 397 

Voters, qualifications of, 11-12 
duties of, 13-14 

Voting, method of, 361 

W 

Wages of Workingmen, 385-386 

War, 

declared by Congress, 249 
and the League of Nations, 263 

War, Department of, 128, 250 

War Kisk Bureau, 399 

War Risk Insurance, 399 

Washington, D. C, 144-146 

Washington, George, quoted, 28, 
42 

Washington ( State ) , 

municipal home rule in, 68 
initiative and referendum in, 

159 
recall in, 170 

forbids intimidation at elec- 
tions, 362 
minimum wage law in, 386 

Water as a public utility, 461 

Water-power, conservation of, 
354-356 

Ways and Means, committee on, 
274 

Weather Bureau, 129, 427 

Webster, Daniel, quoted, 246 

West Virginia, 182 

Williams, Eoger, 197 

Wisconsin, 

the county in, 183 
township government in, 190 
minimum wage law in, 386 
investigates old-age pensions, 
403 

Woman suffrage, 13 

Wyoming, 182, 377 



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